Touch
by raikis
Summary: Being blammed for a crime he didn't exactly commit, Natsu found himself under probation with Lucy Heartfilia, who was the victim in the situation. Under strict order of the judge until his sentence was given, he was not allowed to touch her. Nalu AU. Other pairings included. ( hiatus )
1. Chapter 1

a/n: i have never been to court before so i kind of winged how the session would go and used a little bit of google to help ( i still failed but here we go )

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Touch

Chapter One

"Please be seated." The judge slammed his mallet down against his desk to silence the room. Once the room was silence and everyone in presence were seated, he sat down himself and got situated as a few police men walked up to edge of his desk to set the reports in front of him. He opened the files and read the name of the man that will be seated before him before assuring for him to be brought in. After he did so, the doors in the back of the court room where pulled open and cuffed salmon-haired man in a prison uniform was walked in. He was moved to the front of the room directly in front of the judge—his gaze hardening to a glare upon meeting eye contact.

"Natsu Dragneel, you stand before me in this court accused with charges of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault." The judge sighed and set the folder down and sent the man a glance as he removed the glasses that were set upon his eyes, "How do you view yourself?"

"Innocent." Natsu hissed.

"May I ask why?"

"I'm being _framed,_ old man!" Natsu spat, clutching his hands in the metal cuffs that were locked around his wrist, "I didn't kill anybody!" Three officers came up behind him and grabbed him by the shoulders, roughly tugging him back to get him to take a seat. He just spent three days in jail for no reason, he was _pissed_.

The judge slammed his mallet against the wood on his desk, "Silence! You have the right to remain quiet and seated. Now, I would like Miss. Scarlet to begin."

Next to Natsu was his lawyer, Erza Scarlet, who stood from her seat and cleared her throat, "Thank you, your honor." She titled her head in respect as she walked around the table to stand in front of the man to hand him her report, "Mr. Dragneel—as you know—claims he is innocent and did no wrong—"

"I didn't." Natsu muttered, fumbling with the cuffs in his lap.

"—we unfortunately have no evidence to prove this—_but_," She quickly added, seeing the Judge stiffen before her and Natsu shift from the corner of her eye, "there is also no physical or claiming evidence that he is guilty and that he _did_ commit the crime."

The elder man sighed and leaned back in his seat and massaged the bridge of his nose, and she took this urge to continue.

"Mr. Dragneel claims he stumbled across the real crime scene on his way home from work." Erza said carefully, glancing over to the tensed man behind her, "He said there was a woman being assaulted in the valley aside from his work building and stepped in to help her. He threw a punch and knocked the criminal out cold—but we have reason to believe that the death of that man was not my clients fault."

"And the reason for this is?" The judge urged her to go on.

The scarlet-haired woman paused for a moment, "Health issue? Internal damage that was there before Mr. Dragneel hit him? I would recommend testing and searching the body before you assume such things." The judge and a few people around the room, including the jury, nodded in agreement.

"So what I am getting here is that there is no evidence to prove that Natsu Dragneel is either innocent or guilty—in other words, we barely have a case here for me to resolve or set a rightful punishment down on him." Erza nodded along with the jury, "What else would you suggest I do in this case, Miss. Scarlet? Until we figure out this case and get more information on this, he is either going to be sitting in jail or on house arrest."

"WHAT?!" Natsu shot up, causing his chair to skid back and slam into the wooden booths that were behind him, "I have a full-time job! I cannot be in jail or on probation!"

"I know very well of your job, Mr. Dragneel. Your duties as a fireman are well appreciated and known by the city." The Judge said, nearly complementing him, oddly, "But this case is not settled and I cannot overlook it."

"I'm innocent! It was a defense! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Now, Miss. Scarlet, about my previous question." The man turned his attention back to the lawyer, ignoring Natsu's shouts of protest.

"Your honor, the best I can think of is community service, perhaps on a single citizen?" Erza enquired, "For the time being, we can have Natsu on a close watch on house arrest and still allow him to go to work in the city as he pleases. Throwing him in jail when you don't know his official charges would have no meaning and could end up staining his record for the wrong reason in the end."

The judge nodded in understanding, acknowledging that they indeed don't have any evidence to throw the man in jail, "For the citizen service, do you have the identity of the woman who was assaulted in the valley? Is she here?"

"She is not here, sir, but we have her name and address of living." Erza said, walking back over to her seat with Natsu to grab a certain folder from her briefcase, "Lucy Heartfilia, a nurse working at Magnolia Hospital, and is 20 years-old."

The room fell silent as Erza took back her seat next to Natsu to allow the judge and jury to think of her suggestion. It was only several minutes later that they finally came up with a decision, "Please rise." The judge asked, picking up his mallet as all in the room stood from their seats to await the sentencing. "Mr. Dragneel, until we get enough information to bring you back before me in this courtroom, I am sentencing you to probation—"

"What!" Natsu sputtered, looking at the man like he had just grown three more heads, "What for?!"

"—I will be contacting Lucy Heartfilia to inform her of this since she _is_ involved in this case. You will be under house arrest with her and you are to do _everything_ she says." Natsu's jaw fell slack. He was basically becoming this woman's slave! "If you so much as lay a hand on her without her command, the case will be closed and you will be spending the classified five to ten years behind bars. You will be regularly phone called and checked up on so long as this case is still open. Do I make myself clear?"

"I—" Natsu didn't so much as get a word out before the mallet was slammed down and he found himself being escorted out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

a/n: I am very happy with myself on the length of this chapter, hopefully I can keep it up.

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Touch

Chapter Two

Natsu whipped the sweat off his brow and rubbed his grease covered hands on his work pants to rid the oil that covered them. He was at work trying to fix one of the trucks whose radiator blew that morning. He had once thought of having a career in engineering or even as a side job, but he enjoys the adventures of a fireman, but his skill became useful at times like this. Anything having to do with his hands he was pretty skilled in.

"Alright, fire her up!" He shouted from his place under the hood to one of his coworkers that were in the driver's seat. After a moment or two, the engine begin to vibrate before it roared in life and he stood back a foot or two to examine his work. "Cut it!" He shouted again. The fireman behind the wheel cut the engine as Natsu slammed the hood shut, "That should do it." Kicking his toolbox aside, he grabbed a rag to whip the rest of the oil from his skin as he walked out of the garage.

He's been back for about two and half days now, and his probation should be starting soon. Yes, he's on house arrest but due to his position on the job, he is allowed to go to work freely. And he has yet to meet this Lucy nurse woman; she should be meeting him here soon to meet along with his lawyer, Erza. He's still wondering about this thing of him not being able to touch her. Why the hell would he touch her? His brows furrowed together and a scowl fixed itself on his lips.

"Pain in my damn ass." He grumbled under his breath as he pulled his tattered undershirt over his head. He didn't kill anyone. His job is to save lives, why would he stoop so low and do the opposite? His shirt was thrown over his shoulder as he walked inside the building, casually walking throughout the workhouse and straight to the stairs that connected to the kitchen. To the fridge was where he went, shirtless and glissading in sweat and covered in car oil with only his work pants and boots on.

"I hope you at least washed your hands." A new voice of another man cut through the air, deep, husky and familiar. Natsu looked under his arm towards the doorway of the kitchen and scowled before popping a cold slice of pizza in his mouth, "We need to talk, Natsu."

"What do you want?" Natsu snarled, swallowing his bite of food. In the doorway was an acquaintance of his as they bitterly call it, Gray Fullbuster—a Magnolia policeman. The uniformed man took a seat at the dining table in the corner of the room, soon followed by Natsu who had decided to take the whole box of pizza with him and sat across from the raven-haired man. "What do you need?" He asked again.

"It's about the case." Gray stated, leaning his forearm against the table to relax more. Natsu let out a loud groan and rolled his eyes, "Natsu, this is serious listen to me."

"When will anyone listen to _me?!_" Natsu yelled, "How many times do I have to say I didn't do it? I barely touched the guy—"

"You still hit him." Gray interrupted.

"He was assaulting a woman! What kind of person would just ignore that?" He turned sideways in his seat and glared at the wall. "I didn't kill him, Gray."

The officer sighed and removed his hat to set it on the table in front of him, "The body will be looked at in the lab at the Hospital. Erza thinks the man may have had issues before you hit him, which may have caused his death. So when Erza and that Lucy Heartfilia get here, I want you both to take me to the place this happen."

"Whatever." Natsu sighed, grabbing another slice of pizza, "Want some?" He asked, sliding the box to the middle of the table for Gray. The man said nothing in response and reached over to grab a slice of the cold goodness. The salmon-haired man leaned back in his seat and dropped his feet up on the table and folded his arms behind his neck, "I think that judge hated my guts. I think he had a thing for Erza, though."

Gray nearly choked, "Wh—What?" His face held horror and slight disgust.

Natsu laughed, "That old geezer was following her pencil skirt all around that courtroom!" Suddenly, Gray had no mood to eat the pizza he was holding, thus he passed it over to the giddy idiot who gladly shoved the food in his mouth. "All he ever did was tell me to shut up."

"Were you shouting at him?" Gray asked, partly already knowing the answer to the question. He knows this idiot, he grew up with him.

". . No. " Natsu mumbled.

He _so_ did. Gray chuckled, rolling his eyes and leaning his torso back in his seat, "By the way, "Gray started, noticing something rather big was missing off of the man sitting across from him, "Where's your scarf?" He asked, not being able to tear his eyes away from the scar that was on the side of his neck.

"Hm?" Swallowing the food in his mouth, Natsu coughed and awkwardly covered the mark with his hand, "Must'a left it out by the truck. ." He dropped his legs back down to the ground and stood from his seat, flipping the pizza box closed and mumbling something under his breath as he walked out of the kitchen. Taking a shortcut to the garage, he slipped down one of the fire poles and landed in a heap on the ground. In all honestly, his scarf is in his room upstairs—he left it up there when he started working on the truck this morning, not wanting to get car grease on it—it would have been a real pain and frustrating task to clean it.

To keep himself busy, he walked over the truck he was working on earlier and crouched down, sliding his tool box over to his feet before he slipped underneath the bumper of the truck. The radiator was—annoyingly—still leaking, and it was making an orange and oily mess that he's going to have to clean up later.

"Oi, "He felt someone kick the bottom of his boot, "need any help, flame head?" It was Gray who had followed him down. Natsu grunted in response, not really liking the pity the man was giving him. He was going through a lot of shit with the law and this court case that he was drug into—which let me remind you—he finds a pain in the ass. Just like this radiator.

"Give me the wrench, would'ya?" Natsu asked, holding his open hand out from underneath the truck. Gray followed the request and handed him what he needed as he bent down to sit against the tire with his hat tilted down to cover his face, "Shouldn't you be on duty?" Natsu asked, realizing how much time the man was spending here. Surely he didn't miss him.

"I came here to meet with you, Erza, and that Heartfilia woman." Gray said, voice hoarse and crispy, "As I said before, we need to talk about the case."

"Well, where the hell are they?" Natsu asked. _Women_ and how long they take. Bet they're doing their make-up somewhere.

"You know how girls are." Gray joked.

A silence followed, the only thing heard were clenched sounds Natsu was making underneath the truck and chattering coming from around the garage from other firemen. Every moment he thinks about this court case and the crime he's being blamed for, he can feel the anger pulsing through his veins and stiffening him. Honestly, he wants to have this over with so he can go on with his life—that is, if he doesn't find who blamed him and kills them first, that way _then_ he'll have a reason to be in jail.

"Where's Natsu?" The sudden sound of his lawyer made him jump, causing him to smash his forehead into the bottom of the trucks engine—which let's say, was not a pleasant feeling to have bolts jamming into your flesh. While he was recovering from the sharp blow, he looked to the side to see three pairs of shoes. Erza's heels, Gray's leathered boots, and a pair off white flats which he assumed belonged to the nurse he was supposed to be meeting.

He hissed in pain, pressing the heel of his hand to the steaming lump forming on his temple, "Damnit. ."

"Under there." He heard Gray answer Erza's question, "And from the sounds, I think he's causing more damage than fixing the truck."

"Shut up, Gray!" Natsu shouted, nearly whacking his head again. He glared at the machinery.

"Natsu get out from under there—there's someone here you need to meet." Erza's stone voice sounded again.

He sighed.

Cursing under his breath, he grabbed the edges of the bumper and pulled himself out from underneath the truck and sat up, tossing the wrench in his toolbox before pushing himself up off the ground. He sent glances over Erza and Gray before his sights landed on the blonde woman standing in front of him in light blue scrubs.

"Hi," He waved, a little awkwardly as he whipped the hands on his pants for the umpteenth time today, "you must be. ." His hand automatically went out in front of her to shake as a greeting.

"Lu—Lucy Heartfilia." The girl answered, seeming unfazed by the oil on his hands as she smiled and reached her hand out to meet his own. But once Natsu heard her name, he remembered his orders and quickly retracted his hand before they came in contact, doing an unsmooth move and rubbing the back of his neck.

Gray and Erza gave him questioning looks.

"Nice to meet you. Shall we. . get started?" He asked, walking back over to the workhouse.

* * *

Lucy had just finished her work when she met Erza in front of the Hospital of where she works, claiming that she will personally give her a ride to the firehouse to meet her probation partner. She happily accepted the offer the red-haired woman gave her and got in the passenger side of her car. They talked as they drove, about the case and themselves to get comfortable. When they arrived at the firehouse, the smell of rubber and ash filled her nostrils once she stepped out of the car. For a moment she scrunched her nose in displeasure before she shook herself straight and followed Erza into the garage of the building.

They walked straight up to one of the fire trucks that was being hovered over the ground. There was a sheriff sitting against the tire of it on the ground with his hat titled over his face and the bottom half of another man that was under the bumper of the truck.

"Where's Natsu?" Erza asked, soon followed by a shuttering 'thud' from underneath the fire truck, whom she assumed right away was Natsu. Lucy watched the raven-haired man stand to his feet, dust his bottoms off before sending her a nod and looking to Erza.

"Under there." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the truck, "And from the sounds, I think he's causing more damage than fixing the truck."

"Shut up, Gray!" The man under the truck shouted. Lucy placed her fingers over her lips to hide her amusement. Who knew a fireman and policeman wouldn't get along?

"Natsu get out from under there," Erza ordered, "—there's someone here you need to meet."

There were some faint cursing followed after, and Lucy watched curiously as the man pulled himself out from under the bumper of the truck. Her eyes nearly bulged upon seeing his shirtless state, and the fact that he was sweaty, very well-toned, and spotted in car oil didn't help her fantasizing mind. She's a reader—it can't really be helped. And she's a grown woman! She should be able to admire silently if she wanted. She watched the salmon-haired man stand to his feet and lock his gaze on her and step forward. His handsome features smiled at her despite his stiff movements.

"Hi," He started, his hand stretching out in front of him for her to take, "you must be. . ?"

"L—Lucy Heartfilia." She stammered, finding her eyes trailing below his collar line. Not minding his dirty hands, she smiled and reached her hand out to meet his, but before her hand met with his, he snatched his away and rubbed the back of his neck, leaving her hanging.

"Nice to meet you. Shall we. . get started?" He asked, walking away from the small group and towards the work out.

Her eyes followed his back, following his shoulder blades as they moved along with him. Her hand remained out in front of her and a frown settled upon her lips. Feeling a little offended, she looked over her hand, wondering if she touched something that he didn't want to touch—though, his hands were covered in oil so the problem here remained unknown to her.

"Don't mind him—he can be a jerk at times, other times he's just an idiot." Gray patted her shoulder in encouragement, noticing the confusion drenching her features. She nodded to him, not wanting to talk further into it and will just let it slide.

She followed the three of them out and around the garage where they walked into the valley that was on the side of the building. The unwanted memories of the incident flooded over her, making her shutter uncomfortably despite how hot the weather was today.

"How did it happen, Lucy?" Gray asked, resting his hands on his hips as he looked over the exact area the scene took place. Fore he was the—as he called it, lucky—one that arrested Natsu that night it took place. Though he was unsure and very doubtful that night when he cuffed the fireman to the ground and placed him in the backseat of his car, he had to follow through with his job.

"I was walking back from the convenience store across the street when he grabbed me and drug me back here." And arm folded over her stomach and rubbed her forearm, "Then in a matter of minutes, next thing I knew he was colliding into the brick wall and was knocked out cold in front of me." Lucy sent a glance over to Natsu, who had his gaze narrowed to ground but she could tell he was listening.

Gray nodded, "I'll send in to have his skull examined in the lab—"

"He is in jail, right?" Lucy asked, cutting him off.

The three in front of her exchanged looks, "No, he's not." Erza answered, looking at her dumbfounded at realizing that she didn't know.

"He's dead." Gray finished her.

Immediately, Lucy snapped her gaze over to Natsu who snarled at her before turning on his heel and walking away in return. Clearly he must've thought the look she gave him was a misread one—she was surprised. She had no idea that the man that tried to assault her had died. Was it Natsu's doing? Though he may be tough and edgy looking, she doubts it was his fault, honestly.

The rest of them followed suit and exited the valley and walked back over to the front of the garage. Gray had walked over to his parked car and was sitting in the front seat with one leg out and walky-talky to his mouth. Natsu had went inside not long before and had just returned with a white t-shirt on while Erza asked her more questions.

"You were contacted about the probation you and Natsu are placed on, correct?" Lucy nodded, "We will need you in court with us to prove Natsu's innocence on this date." She pulled out a notepad from her back pocket along with a pen and scribbled something down before ripping the sticky note off and handing it to her, "We can use you as our witness."

Lucy nodded in understanding, looking down to the date that Erza had written down. It was set a few months from now. Seems court dates are outrageous at this time of year, but it gives them enough time to prepare.

Though a confusing question she still has is why _she_ is also being punished with probation when she literally did nothing? She would find herself complaining, but her focus should be keeping this man out of jail, she noted as she sent Natsu a glance. Their records will still remain clean in the end so that was a weight off her shoulder.

After Gray bid them his leave and drove off in his police courser, Lucy was about to close the door to Erza's passenger side seat when Natsu stopped her, surprising her a little.

"Here." He held his hand out and so did she, allowing him to drop what he was holding in her palm. "Looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other." He said before walking away.

Lucy looked down to what was in her hand and gaped, finding it to be a metal key. Assuming it was the key to his home; she slouched down in her seat and crossed her arms, dropping the key in the front pocket of her shirt.


	3. Chapter 3

a/n: I will be switching the POV between Natsu and Lucy, just letting you guys know. Here's chapter three! Sorry it took a while.

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Touch

Chapter Three

Natsu's head collided into the wooden surface of his dining room table as he groaned loudly. He and Lucy had just met with their Probation Officer and the woman was _snobby_. From the moment they both walked in that meeting room that woman was nothing but passive. He can tell by how much Lucy was sighing that she wasn't very fond of the woman either, but they both have to put up with it. He had gotten a letter in the mail from the courthouse, reminding him of the case and court date—_like_ he didn't to be told _again_. At the bottom of the page were the signatures of the judge and his lawyers. Currently, he was in his home sulking with Lucy, who sat across from him.

They had the meeting at 6am and he was pretty exhausted since he slept late. Lucy on other hand was pretty used to this type of waking schedule, she just seemed mentally exhausted from all the talking that woman was doing.

It was only a week ago that they met. It was expected that they meet their Probation Officer _a week ago_, but as said, the woman is rather passive and carefree—meaning she kept holding the meeting off for some bazar reasons. But the two of them have been following their orders and getting to know each other little by little.

Example: Natsu accidentally discovered Lucy's ribs were ticklish.

As by Erza's orders and slight threats, they are to remain together at all times until this case passes. They agreed on a schedule that fits their work routines. When one of them has a day off, they'll be hanging around the other at their work, but careful not to get in the way. It so happen that Lucy had the other day off and was lingering around the firehouse with Natsu and his coworkers—who by the way, she got along with _swimmingly_ and made a few new friends. Lucy was talking to a few of the men in the garage when Natsu came swinging down the fire pole and his knuckles brushed roughly down her side, causing the blonde nurse to jump with a squeak.

The men had a good laugh at the embarrassed blonde who held her ribs protectively. Natsu apologized dozens of times for touching her and kept his distance for the rest of the day, which she found a little disappointing and offending. What his issue is and contact she still doesn't know! It's bugging her more than she likes. And she barely knows this man!

And Natsu notices this every time he avoids it, but he's just following his orders. Spending 5-10 years in jail is not a pleasant thought and he would rather not.

Even though he doesn't even notice he's taking the order too literal.

With another groan coming from the back of his throat, he pushed his way up from his seat and stumbled into the kitchen to fix himself up a drink, "Want something, Lucy?" He asked, glancing to her over his shoulder as he set two glass mugs down on the counter from the cabinet.

Lucy rolled her head over to face him and nodded, "Do you have coffee?" She asked.

Natsu nodded, slamming the cabinet shut and getting the coffee beans out of the freezer. While the coffee was heating up, he leaned back against the counter with his arms crossed as his eyes traveled around the room, landing on Lucy. She was still looking at him, that is, until their eyes met and she rolled her head the other way.

He raised a pink brow.

Weirdo.

"What's your job again?" Natsu spoke up, not really liking the awkward aura rising between them. Lucy rolled her head back over to face him again and sighed.

"I'm a nurse at Magnolia Hospital." She stated simply, "Speaking of my job, I have to go to work in a few for the night shift."

"Great!" Natsu grinned, "So do I! I'll get the guys to give you a ride."

The blonde shot up as he turned around to poor their coffee, "That won't be necessary! I can get there on my own!" She waved her hands and stood from her seat.

"How? Walking? That's _boring_." Natsu exaggerated, "Besides, I only have to check up on the new recruits then I have the day off." He grinned, walking over to the table and setting her cup of coffee down in front of her. "Hope you like black." Dropping back down in his seat, he crossed his ankle over his leg and leaned back to sip his black coffee with content sigh of relief.

"Well, the Hospital is within walking distance, so. ." Lucy muttered, tapping her index finger along the glass of her coffee mug. She doesn't exactly have the money to buy and pay on a car. Though, she can admit it would be a little fun to be driven to work in a fire truck, so why not? Also, she can't stand her coffee black, but she's in no position to complain though. This guy's arms look as if they could snap her in half with a single flex—not that she's looking!

. . She's looking.

"Hm—you're not drinking your coffee?" Natsu asked, setting his emptied cup aside.

"With you having the day off, you'll be hanging around my work then, right?" Lucy asked, her gaze to her thumbs on the table.

"Unless that's an issue, then I'll hang here." Natsu mused casually with a shrug. "It's not like I'm going to disturb some of your patients or anything."

"No! You should come!" Lucy beamed, "I would love for you to meet my coworkers and friends."

Natsu sat dumbfounded for a moment as he took in her expression. Her eyes were almost as wide as her smile, but they held excitement in them—they were bright. "Okay. ." He muttered. His brows furrowed together when the blonde shot up from her seat, his eyes trailed behind her as she walked around him and grabbed her bag before heading to the front door. He sat like rock at the table—unmoving. Lucy sighed and walked back over, grabbed his wrist—which he flinched at—and drug him out the door of his apartment. "H—Hey! Luce, could you. ." He looked down to the small hand that was wrapped around his wrist and grimaced. _Why_ is she touching him?

"You weren't moving and you said you'd give me a ride!" Lucy nearly huffed as she stomped her feet. Luckily, Natsu's apartment was only a few streets from the Fire House, and they got there in a matter of minutes. Upon arriving, Lucy halted them to a stop, noticing two familiar figures standing not far from where they were.

"Natsu—" Natsu let out a shriek at the sight of his lawyer and ripped his arm from Lucy's grasp and backed away a few meters.

"Y—Yes!" He squeaked.

"We've been wondering where you've been—you were supposed to be here a half hour ago." Gray stepped up, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes to the fireman, who pulled a face in return.

"Was I?" Natsu challenged, getting closer to the policeman's face with a snarl.

"Uh. .?" Lucy slipped back away from the thickening aura in confusion and got next to Erza, who was standing there with her hands on her hips like nothing was happening, but almost like she was testing to see how far they'd go in front of her. She watched the boys throw weak insults at each other before Gray moved his hand towards his cuff pouch, and then she knew this was going to take a turn. She backed off a little more, this time getting behind Erza.

"Salamander!" Another voice sounded before a large metal pipe collided into the ground at the two bickering men's feet—forcing them apart by shock. "Where the hell have 'ya been?" All looked up to the man standing on the roof with two other large metal pipes over his shoulder. The man—broad and tall—had long spikey raven hair that fell down his back in a low, messy pigtail with side bangs that covered his ears and fell over his shoulders. Three piercings on each eyebrow and fiery red eyes—Lucy found this man very intimidating. Why hasn't she seen him here before?

"Oh, it's Gajeel. I thought it was someone important!" Natsu laughed, receiving a fierce glare from the said man before he found his face caving in the ground with a metal pipe.

The long-haired man turned his glare to the frozen blonde woman hiding behind the red head, and he cocked his head to the side, "Who's the bunny?" Gajeel asked.

"Bunny?!" Lucy sputtered.

"Good to see you back, Gajeel." Erza commented, seeming unfazed by anything that had just happen and said, "How are feeling—being back on the job?"

"Heh. That Makarov got be switchin' the vent pipes—it's a pain in my ass." Gajeel grunted, dropping the last pipe he had to his feet before swinging his legs up and hopping off the roof.

Lucy gasped, eyes going wide as she watched him fall from such a height, only to stare in shock as the man landing easily on his feet and walked over to the group. Not even a twitch!

"Then you're doing fine. Would you mind giving Lucy a ride to her work?" Erza asked, causing the mentioned woman to tense.

"Who?" Gajeel eyed in question, wondering who this 'Lucy' was. Lucy—feeling a little out of place and invisible—walked over with her hand raised and head bowed in discouragement.

"I'm. . . Lucy." She mumbled.

"Bunny Girl?"

"I'm not a bunny!" Lucy jumped up, clenching her teeth. Realizing what she had just done and seeing the amused look he gave her, she sighed in defeat and walked over to Natsu to distract herself—also seeing he was still on the ground. She used Erza and Gajeel discussing behind her as background noise as she leaned down and eyed the salmon-haired man curiously as she moved the metal pipe off of him and rolled it aside. "H—Heavy. ." How did Gajeel have three of them in his arms? But on the other hand, one look at the pierced man and anyone could tell how well built he was. Guess all firemen in this department are mainly muscles and thick headed.

"That. . bastard." Natsu grunted, sitting up and rubbing the enlarged lump on the back of his head.

"You okay?" Lucy sweat dropped. Wouldn't someone be knocked out by being hit on the head with that much weight? This guy was basically just waving it off. Looking down to her watch, Lucy nearly screamed. "I'm gonna be late!" She shot up to her feet, nearly kicking Natsu over in the process.

Seeing her new friend in a slight distress, Erza shot a look to the three men, "Go!" The two firemen and policemen straightened their backs and spread out.

Gajeel grabbed Lucy's am and pulled her to the truck parked in the garage, throwing open the passenger side door and pushing her in, "Seat belt." He said, slamming the door shut before she could voice any protest. Natsu jumped up and ran to the back of the large truck and climbed up on the back of it with a wide grin on his features. Lucy stuck her head out the side of the window to look back at him, still in shock and confusion to what was happening.

What were they doing?

Natsu sent her a salute as her attention was brought to the sirens that sounded in front of them as Gajeel hopped in the driver's seat and turned on the engine. Gray was in his curser with the sirens sounding as he drove ahead of them. She snatched her head back inside the window as the truck jerked forward out of the garage, squeezing the belt strap that was over her chest. She caught sight of Erza who was waving to them, sending a weak wave back before the woman turned around.

"What are you guys doing?" Lucy asked, looking over to Gajeel who had his eyes locked ahead of him, who grunted in response. Sensing she wasn't getting an answer, she looked to the windshield where she could see Gray in front of them, police sirens ringing, making cars and traffic pull back to let them smoothly drive through. Were they driving her to work like this? This will totally make a scene in front of everyone!

Imagining her coworkers poking fun at her made her flush in embarrassment.

Hearing some whistling coming from outside her window, her attention was brought back to hanging her head out the window and looking back to Natsu, who seemed to be enjoying himself. She watched him, mouth agape and hair flying all around her face as he waved to the passing people who were watching them, whistling and shouting things to them with a smile on his face.

"Head in." Gajeel suddenly said, causing her to yelp and snatch her head back in the window. Just as she did, a lamppost went passed them. "Would've lost yer head." She nodded, deciding to keep her head in for the rest of the ride and for future references. Suddenly, there was a loud ringing 'bang' that startled her, causing a sharp gasp to escape her throat, "Gi hi hi. . . idiot." Gajeel snickered.

Natsu.

Lucy looked towards the side window on her door, finding Natsu cursing and rubbing his forehead with a scowl on his face in the reflection. She laughed, finding his expression amusing.

The Hospital came in view and they turned in the E.R entrance and drove up to the side of the building were workers and nurses were crowding out. Only when they were parked, the police sirens were turned off and they all hopped out.

"Lu? What happen?" A small blue-haired petite girl in orange scrubs ran up to Lucy and engulfed her in a hug. "I was about to call you."

"Ah Levy, nothing, nothing!" Lucy patted the girl on the back and waved it off, "They drove me here since I was running late."

Levy looked as if she was about to say something, but paled once a tall shadow covered the both of them. Lucy curiously looked behind them, finding Gajeel towering over them with a scowl on his face, though his attention was directed towards the Hospital doors.

"Smells." The male grumbled, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"That 'smell' is clean." Lucy said.

Gajeel shrugged and turned his back to them, grumbling another 'it smells' over his shoulder. Lucy shook her head and sighed. They all stood outside for a few more moments before she decided it was time to do come actual work before her manager, Mirajane, came out and chewed their heads off. Natsu followed her inside to the front desk as Gray and Gajeel took their leave.

"Good afternoon, Mira." Lucy greeted the older woman sweetly, giving her a warm smile as she grabbed her folder, "Anything new?" She flipped open the manila folder and scanned her reports, also checking her last nights.

"Well, " Mirajane started. She dropped her pen and stood up in her seat to lean over and grab a few more folders that were set neatly in the rack, "We got two new patients in—both male with broken arms. One has as a sprained ankle and the others shoulder will need popped back in place."

Natsu winced.

"Oh goody, I'll get to them after I check on the older ones. Is that alright?" Lucy asked as Mirajane handed her the new reports. The woman nodded, "Oh! This is Natsu. He'll be coming with me to work during his free time."

"Hi." Natsu waved shortly.

"Hello!" Mirajane chirped, "Enjoy yourselves alright? ~"

Lucy walked away with the folders in her arms as her eyes scanned over them. Natsu followed silently behind her with his arms folded behind his head. He peeked into each opened door they passed curiosily and cringed each time. Oh, how he hates Hospitals.

"Hey Natsu, do you—" Lucy looked over her shoulder to ask him a question, but was cut off by a loud 'crash' as Natsu walked face first into a I.V pole, knocking it down. She watched as he scrambled to pick it up and walk away from it like no one noticed.

This should be a fun visit.


	4. Chapter 4

a/n: Yes good, a chapter the very next day just about. I wanted to make it longer, but my mind has been rather blank today when it came to writing. Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favors! Uhg I hope I can do this fic justice. Here's chapter four! :)

* * *

Touch

Chapter Four

"I can't believe you did that, Natsu!" Lucy crossed her arms below her chest and narrowed her gaze at him, furrowing her brows and puffing her cheeks. Natsu sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, rolling his eyes at her. "That man was in a wheelchair! _A man!_ Not a pregnant woman, Natsu!"

"I was tryin' to be _nice!_" Natsu argued, "How was I supposed to know that wasn't a woman? I thought she was going into labor!"

"He!" Lucy corrected.

"_Whatever_." He threw his hands up in the air and walked around her towards the door. After the scene he created, Lucy grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him in a storage closet—which was a place keeper for some things he'd rather not name and know about. He swears he saw something move in that jar over there. Uhg, Hospitals.

"Where are you going?" Lucy yelled again, making him wince as his ears rung, "I hope you're going to apologize to him."

"Yeah, sure." Natsu waved over his shoulder, making a move to grab the doorknob when he felt a small hand grip his shoulder and spin him back around. Seeing Lucy so close, so suddenly startled him as she backed him up against the door.

Her index finger poked him repeatedly in the chest, "I'm serious, Natsu." She hissed, "That man has ALS, he cannot walk or exercise like he used to, meaning he can't control his weight." Now she was trying to guilt him. "He can't move _at all_. Apologize. . . _please_."

Natsu stared her in the eyes as he slowly broke. Guilt washed over him instantly and cursed at his softness. "I was going to anyway." He grumbled. What's with that look of hers? Just moments ago she was yelling at him, now she looks close to tears. He doesn't know much of this medical and disease stuff, but he can determine for a fact that the condition this man is in is serious. Though he's innocent in his argument—that man can pass easily for a woman. "Be back." Nudging her finger away, he opened the door behind him and walked out, closing it to behind him and leaving Lucy there.

Natsu walked back out the hall and saw the man still in the same place he was, looking at him with no expression at all, but his eyes held much emotion. He took a deep breath as he approached and kneeled down at the base of the wheelchair. A few nurses and staff who saw and heard what happen were lingering around.

Natsu pressed his lips in a thin line and patted the man on the arm, "I'm sorry." He said lowly, looking the man in the eye, "For both what I said, and what you're going through. I didn't mean what I said, and I'm sorry if it offended you in anyway. But can we be honest here and just say you can pass for a pretty good lookin' woman. Though, you're not too shabby of man either." He grinned but it dropped seeing the tears flow in the man's eyes, and he could have sworn he saw the corners of this man's lip twitch just the slightest.

Why does he have the sudden urge to . . . hug this man?

Before he did anything else stupid, and he was sure he would, he patted the man's hand one last time before he stood back to his feet as a nurse came up and wheeled him away, sending him an approving nod. Again, he rubbed the back of his neck as he turned away, but stopped seeing Lucy a few feet in front of him.

She was clutching her clipboard to her chest tightly and she had tears in her eyes. Is everyone in the Hospital emotional? Her face was flushed and she was giving him an approving nod as well.

"Thank you, Natsu."

* * *

"Do you guys even speak to your patients here?" Natsu asked.

"Of course we do!" Lucy said.

They were currently in the Cafeteria having a snack when Lucy brought up the man the in wheelchair, who she said his name is Mo Dunning, but they call him Mr. Dunning for respect.

"Really? That guy looked like hope was all lost until I spoke to him. And I barely said anything! All I said is that he would make a good looking woman." Natsu said, picking at his bag of Doritos and shoving a few in his mouth before speaking again, "We talk to everyone back at the fire department."

"This is a Hospital, Natsu, not the Fire Department." Lucy sighed, "But we do talk to our patients here, but after a while they stop listening to us."

"Then maybe you should talk to them about other stuff and not the same thing all the time." Natsu suggested, "I mean some of the people will be here for a while. It would be selfish if you didn't try to connect with them."

"We do try, Natsu."

"One's like Mo might appreciate just _hearing_ someone's voice even if he can't speak anymore."

Lucy grinned, "He seemed to really like you, and maybe you can visit him in your free time."

"Maybe I will!" Natsu grinned back, taking her by surprise. "Is he one of your patients?"

"No, I think he's Juvia's." Lucy answered, "She was assigned as his new nurse a few weeks ago. She tries to talk to him and stuff, but she says he always gives her a hard look."

"Juvia? Isn't that that woman who talks in the third person?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, and it's very unique so don't make fun." Lucy scolded lightly. "Juvia is a very pure hearted woman!"

"I'm not I'm not! She just seems like a weirdo."

"Juvia is not a weirdo!" Lucy defended her friend, throwing a baby carrot at Natsu which barely hit him in the shoulder.

"Yeah, not as weird as you." Natsu wagged his eyebrows teasingly. He watched in amusement as her face changed in color and emotion. Shock filled her features and disbelieve as she made a move to grab him from across the table, but Natsu jumped up from his seat and backed away, the grin still playing on his face.

"I'm not weird!" Lucy squeaked, "How am I weird?"

"Well, you _look_ weird." Natsu commented.

"Hey!"

* * *

Lucy squished her face up and around in her reflection in the mirror, "I don't look weird." She mumbled, cursing about Natsu under her breath. She let her hair down and flipped the ends over and around her shoulders, adjusted her bangs a few times and did a make-up check. Natsu's teases and taunts still hung around in her mind. She knows he was just messing with her, but uhg! Now she can't stop thinking about it!

With a sigh, she turned the foist on and wet her hands to wash them. She's only known this guy for around a week and it seems she's known him much longer than that. He makes her feel weird, in all honesty. She's always thought a cool guy with a neat vibe was her type, and she also knows what a guy that loves teasing and playing jokes can do to a girl. In all honesty, again, Natsu makes her feel. . how would you call it? Weak to the knees? Jabbering heart rate? She honestly can't pin the feeling down, but she sure as hell doesn't like him, right? She can let it pass as a crush, yeah sure, but _actual_ romantic feelings? No way!

But she cannot deny that grin, or that laugh, or the teasing and jokes—she can't deny how they make her feel. She can easily find herself staring at him without his knowledge, over his broad shoulders and fit arms and body. He's every woman's wet dream! Not that she thinks of him inappropriately, she only just met him! That would be wrong. But her point.

_I'll just be around him until this case is closed and his innocence is proven_, Lucy thought as she splashed a little water on her cheeks. She knows he's innocent and that he did no wrong. He shouldn't have spent those days in jail and shouldn't be going through with this ridiculous court case at all! She shuttered at the memory of how that man was touching her and pinning her against the wall, and Lucy remembers clearly the flash between the man touching her and the moment Natsu's fist collided in his jaw. She was so sure the man was merely knocked out cold. . _not_ that the blow possibly killed him, but Natsu is still not at fault.

She remembers how she dropped to her knees and thanked him dozens of times before the police showed up, and the following week there was an article in the newspaper about his arrest. It confused her, like why would he be arrested for that? That was her question.

Another thing she's questioning is his fetish with _touching_. She's seriously starting to wonder if she smells or if the lotion she uses grosses him out that he really doesn't want physical contact with her. Really, not that she really wants him to touch her; it's just she wonders (also that she, as a reader and having a wondrous imagination, also wouldn't mind it). Maybe it has to do with something that has happened to him in the past? Or maybe he just doesn't like being touched, but she's seen him exchange that 'friendly man hugs and bumps' at the firehouse and with Erza, so maybe it's just her? Now she's honestly offended.

"Stupid Natsu, " She grumbled, messing around with her hair once again. Should she keep it down or pull it back up in a bun? Lucy turned her head side to side before sighing, deciding to leave it down.

She has put some thought into why he has this thing with touching, and it surprises and worries her why she's so interested in it. One would think she would be the one to have a touching problem after what happen in the valley and that man. And she would be lying if she said she didn't, she sometimes feels her skin crawl at the very thought. The way that man was running his hands along her body sent shivers up and down her body. It was disgusting and unpleasant to feel, and all she wanted was for him to stop.

There's a deep bruise at the nape of her neck and collar bone where the man had touched her, and she knows Natsu and the others notices it but they choose not to word it, thankfully. Lucy is certain she's caught the salmon-haired fireman observing the purple-ish black and blue mark on her skin, but would turn away when she looked. Unconsciously, she raised her hand to cover the swelling and sore spot. Sure, she would love to be kissed or nipped there in a moment of passion, but the way that man bit into her and left moist trails in the wake of his mouth on her was disgusting and not the way a girl would imagine it.

But she also can't deny the feeling of guilt she feels that the man lost his life.

"Damnit Luce! Did you fall in or somethin'?!" Natsu knocked loudly and impatiently on the door and jiggled the locked doorknob.

Lucy jumped in surprised and yelped, "Ju—Just a minute, Natsu!"

"You said that ten minutes ago!" She can just hear the annoyed growl that erupted in his throat.

"Hold on!" She yelled back, quickly drying her hands and adjusting her hair one last time before unlocking the door. Natsu must have been leaning against it when she tugged it open, fore he flung forward but she caught him on reflex. She felt his hands grip the sides of her abdomen and waist, and she felt a shock pulse under her skin where his hands were. The moment didn't last long before a scowl filled his features and he pulled back.

"Finally! You were in there forever!" He groaned.

"More like five minutes!" Lucy argued, placing her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes at him.

Natsu's jaw dropped, "Five minutes? It was like thirty!"

Lucy rolled her eyes as he went on about how woman practically _live_ in the bathroom stalls and why he can't understand why they spend most of their life in them. Her hands fell to her sides were he had gripped her, the sensation of his touch still lingered and sizzled beneath her skin. It was. . pleasant. It was warm and unlike the feeling the man left behind on her. There was tiny voice in the back of her mind telling her she wanted to feel it again. And she wonders what he felt in that short moment.

* * *

a/n: You know, I'm having serious thoughts of having Natsu do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in this. . . maybe I will!


	5. Chapter 5

a/n: phew! i was working on this all day and trying to get over that writers block i had gotten. here's five!

* * *

Touch

Chapter Five

"Damnit asshole! You're gettin' us wet over here!" Gajeel hollered.

Natsu smirked and turned the hose toward the male, "Am I? I'm just here washin' the truck." With a grin, he turned on the water and soaked the raven-haired male from top to bottom. "Oops."

Gajeel growled, "You're gonna pay for that, bastard." He leaned down and picked up a bucket of soap and stomped towards the salmon-haired fireman who laughed and backed away, "You're supposed to be washin' the truck! Not foolin' around!"

"Says the man comin' at me with a bucket of soap." Natsu wiggled his brows, dodging an attack the angry male tossed at him.

He sprayed the hose again and got Gajeel in the face, wetting his hair and the rest of his shirt. Snorting, Natsu ran around the back of the truck with the pierced man following close behind him, yelling and cursing at him while trying to hit him in the head with the now empty bucket in his hands. The rest of the firemen in the garage watched amusingly as the two grown men argued and chased each other around the truck. Gajeel had ended up—quite dramatically—slipping on some water and soap and flung forward into Natsu, causing them both to smash in the side of the truck in a mush of limbs.

"You did that on purpose, metal for brains!" Natsu yelled. He rubbed his nose painfully and glared, "You're fixin' that!" He pointed to the faint dent that was now on the bumper of the truck.

"Tch! There's barley anythin' there!" Gajeel yelled back, standing to his feet and rubbing the side of his head.

"When Makarov sees it I'm telling him you did it." Natsu grunted.

"It was your face that dented it!"

"It was your _head_ that dented it!"

Both men held their fist up to strike, but stopped when some ringing in Natsu's work pants sounded. Growling at each other one last time, Gajeel stalked away while Natsu got his phone out to answer it. Seeing it was his lawyer calling him, he sighed and waited a moment before pressing 'answer'.

"Hello?" Natsu answered casually, pressing the phone to his ear and resuming spraying the truck down with the hose.

"Natsu?" Erza sounded on the other line.

"Erza?" Natsu questioned back, "What's up?"

"Natsu, I just got off the phone with your Probation Officer and the court." Erza said, "Your Probation Officer wants to see you and Lucy ASAP. She will be calling either of you to form a meeting place—she will speak to you both individually to see how you're cooperating around Lucy."

Natsu resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Yeah yeah, okay. I'll call Luce."

"And Gray will be coming down as well." Natsu rolled his eyes this time and let out a groan, "Natsu, I need you to tell me honestly," Erza started. Her sudden hard tone sent a chill up his back, "Have you touched Lucy at all since the start?"

Natsu opened his mouth to speak, but only a breath of air escaped his lips. He fell silent as he looked down to palms of his hands, remembering the feel of holding the curves of her frame between his thumbs. Though it was accidental and not intent of his, he remembers the warmth that spread through his fingers and skin at the feel of her in that short moment. He remembers how close he got to her and how wide her eyes had gotten in that moment of surprise. Though, he had composed himself quickly and got on her about the amount of time she was in the bathroom.

Natsu can almost still _feel_ it.

"Natsu?" Erza's voice cut in, knocking him out of his thoughts.

"Uh. ." Natsu sighed, "There was a few times I—"

"Natsu!" Erza snapped, making him wince, "Did you listen to anything that judge said? Do you want to end up in jail? You are not allowed to be sexually touching Lucy in any way—"

"Whoa wait!" Natsu sputtered, a look of shock and horror taking over his features, "Who the hell said I _sexually_ touched her?!"

"Didn't you—"

"No!" Natsu yelled, "I've only known this girl for a few weeks, what the hell! And she was nearly raped! Why the hell would I be touching her like that?!"

"So that's how it is. ." Erza mumbled on her end of the line. Natsu heard some shuffling before she spoke again, "Then you two shouldn't have anything to worry about, then. Are you listening to everything Lucy says?"

Natsu rubbed his thumbs into his temple as he walked into the garage and shed his shirt off his torso. The weather today was ridiculously hot, even for him. He unbuckled his belt and the first button on his work pants and walked back out to the truck he was washing and spraying down. Business has been rather slow lately, but he has a feeling with this intense heat something was gonna happen. No doubt there will be some fires to put out in due time.

"Well, she really hasn't told me to do anything actually." Natsu said, "But yeah, sure."

"Then this meeting should go smoothly." Erza said, "I'll see you soon. I hope to see your job progressing well when I get there."

Natsu cringed, "Yeah. ." Sometimes she acted like his devil mother. "See ya." He tapped his phone to end the call and slipped it back in his pocket before turning the hose back on and spraying down the front of the truck. He started to whistle a tune and zoned out for probably a few minutes until he heard a small voice.

"Natsu?

Said man whirled around, hose still on, to see his blonde partner standing behind him. Lucy let out a loud scream when the string of water coming out of the hose sprayed her from the chest, down. Her arms came up in front of her in poor effort to stop it, and it wasn't until a few moments later did Natsu realize the hose was still on and turned it off.

"Um. . sorry Luce." Natsu gave a nervous laugh and dropped the hose, seeing her expression became dark as she looked over her now soaked and wet clothing. She must have just come from work; fore she was in her usual scrubs. Usually he sees her in light blue ones; she was now wearing a soft pink. Honestly, the color suits her. But Natsu knew now wasn't a very good time to try and suck it up to her.

Lucy glowered at him and dived down to grab the hose and held it up to him. She held it towards him threatening grin on her lips, which he found frighteningly attractive on her. Natsu held his hands up in surrender and backed away slowly.

"Lucy, I said I was sorry. ."

"I have to back to work in this, Natsu!" Lucy scolded.

"Then we'll dry them real quick, no worries." Natsu tried to ease her down, but soon found his face full of water as she turned on the hose. He gave her a grim expression as she lowered the hose and crossed her arms over her chest, proud of her payback.

Natsu wasn't having this.

Stooping down, he grabbed the hilt of the hose and sprayed it on full blast on her, causing her to squeal and scream.

"Natsu! I already got you back! We're even, stop it!" Lucy squealed as she tried to get away from him. The firemen, including Gajeel, watched as Natsu chased the female around the truck and station driveway spraying her with the hose. Soon Lucy's screams and squeals turned into laughter as she tried to get the hose out from Natsu's grip, both forgetting the meeting they were going to be having soon.

Gajeel and the firemen watched a police cruiser pull up to the station and grinned knowingly, but it dropped upon seeing the red-haired woman that stepped out of the car along with Gray and a blue-haired man.

Oho , those two were so dead.

"Uhg! Why you—Lucy!" Natsu yelped as the blonde ripped the hose from his hands and started spraying him down.

Erza, Gray and his partner, Jellal walked up to the two with different expressions. Erza looked upon them with a twitching eye, Gray didn't care, and Jellal seemed amused. Though, Natsu and Lucy had yet to notice the extra company as they fought over the hose.

"Natsu!" Erza snapped, scaring the two out of their skin. Both of them whirled around, hose in between their hands, to the fuming woman and the two officers. The string of water coming out of the hose splattered over Erza's neck, and chest. Natsu struggled along with Lucy to try and turn it off as the water moved over and soaked Gray and his partner as well. By the time they finally got the hose off, the all five of them stood there dripping wet.

Natsu dropped the hose in Lucy's hands and ran, seeing the anger imitating from his lawyer. Erza grinded her teeth together and flung her arm out and grabbed the back of his pants, since he was still shirtless.

Lucy watched as the salmon-haired male was beaten to a steaming pulp right before her eyes in a matter of seconds. When Erza turned towards her, she straightened her back but felt relieved when Erza turned away and faced Gray and Jellal. The woman froze and flushed as she made eye contact with the blue-haired male's expression.

Jellal looked between Erza and Natsu's crippled form, "You're the devil."

Erza suddenly seemed depressed.

* * *

"Hm? What's this?"

Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Gray, and Jellal stood side-by-side in a line in front of the Probation Officer who eyed their wet appearance with a testy eye. Natsu was scowling and resisting the urge to roll his eyes at every letter that came out of the woman's mouth. Lucy was flushed in embarrassment, along with Erza. Only Gray and Jellal seemed to care less on how wet their clothing were—the woman wasn't here for them. They were only here for business, not to be scolded by some passive woman.

The woman licked her chapped lips and clicked her pen and scribbled on her clipboard, "Didn't bother fixing up knowing I was coming?"

"What makes you so special?" Natsu grumbled under his breath. Lucy and Gray snorted while Erza smacked the man beside the head.

"I would suggest you guys go get properly dried." The woman clicked her pen again and seated her way at the dining table in the kitchen they currently stood in. Before Natsu could say any remark or anything the woman may find offending, Erza slapped her palm over his mouth and drug him out. Once the group was back down in the garage, Erza stood in front of them and crossed her arms.

"You both need to find some dry clothing—quickly." She said.

"I—I came from work in this. . I don't have. ." Lucy looked down to her soaked scrubs and sighed.

Erza nodded and looked to Natsu, "Do you have anything she can borrow until we dry her clothes?"

"Probably." Natsu shrugged a shoulder and walked towards the stairs with his arms behind his neck, motioning Lucy to follow. Since sometimes he can be on the job for days at a time, this place was like his second home. He has clothing here he brings from home. The firehouse as a matter of about four room filled with beds for the men when they have to work outrageous hours.

As the two ran their way upstairs, Lucy closely following behind Natsu, clutching her arms around her wet clothing, she couldn't help but notice the way his shoulder blades moved when he ran. The way his arms and muscles flex at each movement mesmerized her.

"In here." Natsu pointed to a room on the right, "I might have some sweats and a t-shirt that'll fit ya, but they might be a little big. But it's all I got here at the moment." He walked up to a small dresser against the wall and tugged the first two drawers open and dug out what he needed. "Here, Luce." He tossed a grey shirt at her that had 'Magnolia Fire Department' in black lettering across it, some sweats that will probably go passed her feet and a towel, "There's a bathroom around the corner outside the door." Lucy nodded and mumbled her thanks before walking out to look for the bathroom to change, leaving him in his room to strip off his own clothing.

Natsu tugged down his damp work pants and kicked them in a corner and unrolled his own pair of sweats and pulled them up this his hips. He sighed as he unrolled his shirt and pulled it over his head and pulled it over his torso. Thank goodness he finished dressing in time, because Lucy walked in right after.

Why didn't he think to close the door?

"The pants are big on me, but. . um ." Lucy mumbled. Her hand grasped the waist band of the sweats hanging on her hips to keep them from falling as she walked in, holding her damn bundle of clothing in her arm.

Natsu stared, "Oh. . well," The shirt went down to her mid-thighs and the sleeves went down to her elbows. The pants, of course as he thought, were big on her and bundled up at her ankles. Over all, in his eyes, she looked. . hot.

"Should we go. .?" Lucy noticed his stare and fidgeted with her weight, cheeks flushing in a blush.

"Oh! Yeah uh, just leave your clothes there. I'll have Gajeel or someone come up to wash them." Natsu gestured for the bed next to them while walking around her, lifting an arm to rub the back of his neck. He heard her drop her clothing on the bed and follow him to the kitchen where their (passive) Probation Officer was waiting, tapping her pen against her clipboard with impatience. Natsu compressed a scowl and flopped down in a seat farthest away from the woman while Lucy settled into the one beside him, which was closest to her.

The woman clicked her tongue, "Now that you are dry and changed, we can have a proper meeting." Erza walked in and stood beside Natsu, leaving Gray and Jellal in the kitchen doorway with their arms crossed over their chest. "First I will talk to you together, then separately. Mr. Dragneel," Natsu grunted in response, "How would you say you and Ms. Heartfilia have been cooperating the past few weeks?"

Natsu looked between the woman, Lucy, and Erza then shrugged, "It's ight."

The woman arched a brow and slowly clicked her pen, "It's . . 'ight'?" She questioned.

"Yeah I mean, " Natsu leaned forward and pressed his elbows to his knees, "We've become close in the short amount of time—I would say we're good friends in the least." He shrugged again.

"I see. ." The woman wrote something down on her paper before turning to Lucy, "And you, Ms. Heartfilia, what do you think?"

"I. . well, what Natsu said, and uh. ." Lucy fumbled with her words and twisted her thumbs in circles and diverted her gaze from the woman's testy eye, "He—we haven't done anything that would be bad, you know? He's fun to be around and I would say we're. . pretty close. . after just a few weeks." Natsu noted she seemed nervous and a little flustered from the smear of red that was coating the tips of her ears and the way she was fingering the ends of her shirt (his shirt).

He suddenly had an odd urge to tease her about it. . maybe he will later. So with a hum, he leaned back in his seat and folded his arms behind his head and propped his feet up on the legs of Lucy's chair. He caught her glance she sent him from the corner of her eye, but it only lasted a moment. Natsu grinned.

"And you, Ms. Scarlet?" The Probation Officer looked to Erza next, "As Mr. Dragneel's lawyer, I would also like to know how you think they have been acting around each other."

"I haven't been around much when they are together out of work or anything, but they've actually been progressing better than I thought they would." Erza stated, a bit proudly.

"I have a few questions, if I may?" All eyes turned to Jellal in the doorway, who looked a bit confused over something. He looked to the woman, "Not trying to be rude, but why does this matter between them? From what I read, Mr. Dragneel is being accused of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault—which is an outrageous accruement for a man who merely saved a woman, " He gestured to Lucy, "from being assaulted on her way home. Why is Ms. Heartfilia on probation with him?" Jellal asked.

The woman sighed and dropped her pen and clipboard down on the table, "Would you rather Mr. Dragneel sitting in jail, Officer Fernandes?" She questioned him back.

"Don't twist my words, ma'am." Jellal arched his brow, "Answer my question, and I'll answer yours."

Natsu liked this guy, he decided. Jellal had some man in him, even though he seems flaky.

"I'm afraid this was the lightest thing the court could do for him. If it was anyone else, they would be sitting in jail, but Mr. Dragneel is well known for his job, and it's because of his job we are doing this." The woman explained, "Until the court date comes for Mr. Dragneel to stand in that courtroom again, he will remain on probation serving Ms. Heartfilia."

"Wh—Wha—" Lucy flushed, not understanding the meaning of 'serving' the woman meant.

"It was also Ms. Scarlet here who picked it." The woman pointed to Erza, "Ms. Heartfilia was involved in the situation and is a witness for Mr. Dragneel's side of the case."

Natsu was getting real tired of being called 'Mr. Dragneel'. Man, it makes him sound old.

"And what about his record? Have the courts decided on that?" Jellal asked.

"Well, if he is proven innocent, his record will remain clean. If not, he will be arrested and put behind bars for five to ten years."

Jellal nodded in understanding and sighed, "As for your question, ma'am, I don't currently have an answer. You'll have to get back to me on that."

The woman nodded and picked up her clipboard again, "Natsu, I'll talk to you in private first." She gave him a wary eye which he returned with a scowl.

"Why can't Lucy go fir—"

"_Come._" The woman pushed her seat out from under her and stood up from her seat. Natsu, with a lazy groan, sluggishly followed her out into the hall outside the kitchen, leaving Lucy and the others.

* * *

Lucy relaxed against the back of her seat and sighed. For some reason, she feels really tensed and warm. An awkward silence filled the room between herself, Erza, Gray, and Jellal but she willed herself not to think about it. Though soon enough, Erza had a conversation going on with the two men and she closed her eyes as the minutes passed. It seemed to take about ten minutes before Natsu walked back in the kitchen with a scowl deeper than before. As he dropped back down in his seat, she knew that was her cue to go. With a heave of strength, she stood up from her seat and exited the kitchen to find her Probation Officer leaning against the wall waiting for her.

"Ms. Heartfilia," The woman started, "Are you okay with this involving you and Mr. Dragneel?"

Lucy nodded, "Of course if it's going to help keep him out of jail."

The woman nodded and wrote some scribbles on her clipboard before looking back up, "Is he cooperating to everything you say?" She asked.

"Excuse me?" Lucy tilted her head to the side in question, "What do you mean?"

"Well, he's supposed to be doing everything you say. Court orders." The woman stated, "Were you not told?"

"N—No! I was told." Lucy lied, but it eased the woman. She was _not_ told Natsu was supposed to be doing everything she tells him to. A smile twitched at the corner of her lips.

Things are about to get a little more interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

a/n: i don't like the ending of this chapter tbh, i might redo it. i bet this isn't what you expected lucy to do, but i'll try to make it better in upcoming chapters because i have something big-ish planned. ;) here's six!

* * *

Touch

Chapter Six

Lucy had ended up calling Mirajane to inform her she will be returning to work late, but the woman had told her to it was fine to not come back in at this rate and that she understood. So now that Lucy has the rest of the day off, she'll be here at the firehouse. The reason for this is that Natsu and Gray got into an argument somewhere during the meeting and knocked their Probation Officer down in the process. The room had shared a few minutes of silent horror before the woman stomped up to her feet, grabbed her things and left.

"_Outrageous!"_ Is what she had shouted over her shoulder towards them.

After she was gone, Natsu and Gray had busted out laughing before Erza kicked them into the wall and received another 'You're the devil' from Jellal.

They all were currently hanging around the firehouse. Natsu was finishing washing the trucks, Jellal and Gray were talking to Erza at the end of the garage, and she was here, sitting on the end of one of the fire trucks inside the garage, watching everything. She still had Natsu's clothing on as her clothes dried. Natsu had shed his shirt and tossed it on the ground away from his work (which she shared a few moments sputtering at) as he finished washing the truck down, and once he did, he hollered for Gajeel to back it back into the garage.

Lucy couldn't quit smiling to herself, honestly. The words 'Natsu has to do everything you say' kept replaying itself in her mind, and making her smirk. _Oho_, she was going to abuse this when she has the chance. And she fears Natsu knows about this because he keeps sending her glances over his shoulder. Well, it also might be because she looks like an idiot just sitting there smiling at nothing. Now she can't really blame him.

So as Gajeel started backing the now clean truck back into the garage, she made her move. Lucy pushed herself up and practically skipped her way over to the salmon-haired fireman and tapped his shoulder to grab his attention. Once he turned around, she noted the way he took a step away from her before arching a brow towards her.

"Hm?" He mumbled, rapping the hose up.

"Natsu," Lucy started out in sweet tone and intertwined her fingers behind her back, "Could you get me some water?" She asked, causing him to arch his brow higher. Lucy had no idea how her expression looked at the moment, but she was sure it was something close to 'smug' or even 'devious', but who cares?

Natsu squinted his eyes at her before dropping the hose and walking around her, "Sure. ." Literally, that was random. He kept sending her odd looks and vibes as he walked away, and once he was in the garage and up the stairs, Lucy giggled.

"Lucy, I'll be taking my leave." Erza walked up to the blonde with her hands on her hips, "Here's my number. If there are any problems, please don't hesitate to call me." She handed Lucy a small business card that had her name, work place, and phone numbers on it. "If Natsu does anything out of line, please tell me." Lucy nodded and dropped the paper in her pocket as she waved to the red-haired woman and the two policemen. She highly doubts Natsu would do or try something out of line with her, so Erza has nothing to frit over right? Just being close to her makes him distant himself from her, and don't even get her started on the 'touching issue' again! That's something she'll have to bring up to him, she noted. But wouldn't that make her look weird? Like she _wants_ him to touch her? How would he look upon her in that situation for bringing it up? I mean, she still doesn't know if it's a personal phobia—people have phobias of touching others, right? Well, doesn't he have to listen to everything she say—

"—Kyaah!" Lucy flushed at her own thoughts and pinched her cheeks. What is wrong with her? How insensitive of her! What on Earth is she thinking?!

"What are you thinking, pervert?" Lucy felt every nerve from her neck and shoulders shoot up from her skin at the sudden sound of Natsu behind her pressing a cold bottle of water to her ear, "Weirdo."

The bottle was dropped in her palms as Natsu walked around her, "I'm not a weirdo. ." Lucy mumbled.

"What was that, weirdo?" Natsu grinned teasingly at her, cupping his hand over his ear and pretended like he didn't hear what she said, "I didn't quit hear what you said! Can you say it a little louder?" He said mockingly, making her blush and clutch her fist.

"Stop calling me that! I'm not a weirdo!" Lucy crossed her arms and pouted, "And I'm not a pervert either."

"Then why is your face red?"

"It's hot!"

Natsu then held up the hose towards her and taunted, making her squeal and duck thinking he was going to spray her again. He chuckled, "You were being a closet pervert."

"I was not!" Lucy just about shrieked, "It was something Erza said . ."

Natsu raised a brow and gave her a look, "You know that's even worse, right?" He walked closer, looking left and right before whisper-shouting towards her, "Erza reads heated genre!"

Lucy nearly choked on the sip of water that was in her mouth and coughed, "Wh—What?"

"Well, I was helping her move her apartment a little while back, and I was helping her unpack her books and I saw the ratings." Natsu shrugged casually, "I mean, I kinda figured she was into that kind of stuff, but I didn't think she collected it."

"Well, so what if she reads that stuff?" Lucy defended, "I bet you read _even worse_ stuff than that!"

"Well yeah, if it has pictures." Natsu, again, shrugged without a care. The wiggle of his brows made Lucy sputter and flush. He's not even trying to hide the fact that he looks at that stuff! "Now tell me Luce," Natsu started with a grin—a teasing one that made her bit her lip, "Who were you perving over? C'mon, tell me I won't tell."

"I wasn't perving over anyone!" Lucy said, "I'm not a pervert!"

"Was it Gray? Uhg, you got bad taste."

"Natsu!"

"Was it Jellal? Erza will murder you."

"No!"

"Gajeel?"

Said man, who had just finished backing the truck up into the garage paused at the sound of his name and looked between the two. "Bunnies aren't my thing." Gajeel said, raising a studded brow to Lucy, "Hate ta burst your bubble Bunny Girl, but—"

"It's not that!" Lucy yelled, "I—I wasn't thinking of you, Gray, or Jellal in that way!" She was about 90% sure her cheeks were going to burn off from both fury and embarrassment. Gajeel snorted and walked away from the two, mumbling something about how annoying and noisy they were being and something about sleeping, but she couldn't be sure. Is this what firemen do when they have nothing to do?

"Was it Erza?" Natsu asked with a slight grin, "Oh Lucy, I didn't know you were—"

"No no no! It wasn't Erza—it wasn't anybody!" Lucy screeched.

"Was it me?" Natsu asked, but received silence and hesitation. Lucy had diverted her eyes to her feet and he stood there dumbfounded. Her face remained flushed but her words and argument lost in her throat. Well, now she was caught and it was embarrassing. But she wasn't really thinking of him _that_ way, right? She was only going over a possibility of Natsu having a touching phobia in her mind when suddenly she thought of—

Her thoughts were cut by some laughing, making her snap her eyes back up to Natsu's trembling form as he leaned over and crackled at her.

"What. . are you laughing at?" Lucy asked with a small pout on her lips. She crossed her arms and furrowed her brows. Was he laughing at her?

"You're such a weirdo!" Natsu laughed.

"I'm not a weirdo!" Lucy defended.

"That's what a weirdo would say." Natsu commented, still grinning, "You were perving over me, admit it."

"I was not! Stop it!" Lucy hollered.

Natsu held his hands up in reasoning and snickered, "Alright alright, I'll stop." He walked into the garage and pass her to set the hose down by the tools before muttering, "Perv."

"Nat—_!_"

"Oi!" Gajeel snapped, causing Lucy to jump, "You're clothes are dry. Come get 'em."

Lucy nodded, "Thanks," She stuck her tongue out at Natsu before following Gajeel into the firehouse to get her clothes and change. Once they were up to the washroom, he tossed her bundle of clothing in her hands before shoving her into the bathroom to change her clothes. Lucy stripped of her borrowed clothing to slip her own back on. Now, what else? There isn't much she could ask, is there? This turned out to be un-fun, Lucy thought as she pulled the top of her uniform over her head. Well, now that Mirajane gave her the rest of the day off, she could do something productive. . like shopping. Though she really did kind of want to go back to work, Mirajane would have a fit if she turned up now after what she told her. No one dares go against Mirajane's words.

The woman may be the sweetest, but Lucy _has_ seen her in rage. She can feel herself shuttering at the recalling image.

After she was changed out of Natsu's clothes, she looked at herself in the mirror—fixed her hair and made sure the little make-up she was wearing was alright before bundling up Natsu's clothes and walking out of the bathroom. She sighed as she made her way back down stairs to the garage where Natsu was. Her previous thoughts of him came flooding over her again, making her cheeks burn lightly but she over looked it. Natsu was—again—messing with the hose by spraying some middle school kids who were walking passed the station from school. He was laughing as he sprayed the sidewalk the kids were walking on. Some of them screamed and ran.

Lucy shook her head at the scene. If anyone here was a weirdo, it's him. With his clothes in her hands, she stopped at the end of the garage and called out to him, "Here, Natsu—ah!" Out of shock, Natsu whirled around upon hearing his name called. Unfortunately, the hose was still in his hands and on, but luckily Lucy ducked down and moved out of the way to avoid being sprayed. Gajeel, being the unlucky one got sprayed in the face before Natsu finally turned the water off.

"Damnit!" Gajeel yelled, balling his fist and glaring sharply at the stifling two.

"Is water attracted to metal?" Natsu asked, looking over the hose skeptically. "I think it's your piercings."

"It's not the piercings! Stop playin' around with this thing!" Gajeel scolded, ripping the hose from Natsu's hands, "Quit sprayin' me in the face!"

"At least somethin' is attracted to your face!" Natsu yelled back.

"What was that Salamander?!" Gajeel hollered.

"You want 'a go metal-junk?"

Lucy looked between the two as they started fighting, feeling very much out of place at the moment. What should she do? Leave? Wait? _What?_

Lucy sighed and decided to sit back and went back in the garage and leaned against the truck and watched them with little interest. There were a few times she winced at a punch or hit either of them received, but other than that they were mostly calling each other names. Pitiful names, if she were to note to herself. She leaned back against the bumper of the truck and looked to the ceiling, holding the bundle of Natsu's clothing against her stomach.

"I guess I could go shopping. ." She mumbled to herself, "I need yogurt." Sigh. Lucy suddenly sat upright with a gasp, "Natsu? Are you able to come to the store with me?" She asked with a little hint of hope in her tone.

Natsu turned towards her and shrugged, "Dunno, I got the new recruits comin' in later today and I have to be here."

"Oi!" Gajeel snarled, "Don't ignore me!"

"It won't take long!" Lucy assured, "I just would like to pick up a few things for my house."

"You're ignorin' me!"

"Why do I need to go?" Natsu asked, showing it on his face that he really, _really_ didn't want to go shopping with her.

"Please?" Lucy asked. Honestly, she doesn't want to go alone—that's one reason. Another is that she wants to test out this 'Natsu has to do everything you say' thing. And why not test it at the store? Of course she needs yogurt and few other things to go in the fridge for home. . but she could always extend the list.

At this point, Gajeel got annoyed and threw his up in the air and stormed away.

Lucy saw the expression he was making and knew he was going to decline it. She puckered her lip and grabbed his wrist and began pulling him out of the garage, "Come on! You're coming."

"Wha—wait, what? Luce!" Natsu protested, but seeing how he wasn't going to get out of this, he looked over his shoulder and hollered to Gajeel, "Take care of the recruits for me!"

"Why should I?!" Gajeel yelled back.

"Bastard!" Natsu yelled as Lucy pulled him around a corner.

* * *

"I need yogurt, milk, bread, eggs, oil, paper towels, napkins, sugar, baking soda, detergent, freshener, shampoo, powder, mascara, lip gloss, hair spray. ." Natsu let out an annoyed groan as her list of items went on. A few things for the house my ass! She came here to buy the entire store! This is definitely going to take forever, "—cleaner, a half a pound of Swiss, ketchup, so—"

"Are you just saying random items?" Natsu asked, judging the order of the things she was saying.

There was a pause, "Of course not!" Lucy smiled, "Can you get a shopping cart, Natsu?" She asked, even though she was the one standing beside the rack containing the shopping carts. Natsu slumped his shoulders and walked over, grabbing the end of a cart and pulling it out of the rack, "That one squeaks. ." Lucy commented, making him roll his eyes and push it back before grabbing another one, _making sure it doesn't squeak_. He had a half mind to rear-end her with it, but refrained and just smirked at the thought. "I'll start with the groceries—Natsu, can you start with appliances?"

Natsu's eyes narrowed, "Sure." He pushed the cart towards her and spun on his heel towards the 'beauty section'—a place he has always avoided when coming to the store _until today_. He groaned.

"Oh Natsu!" Lucy called to him, grabbing his attention, "Don't forget the regular tampons." She whisper-shouted, giggling at the look of disgust and horror that washed over his face. "Meet me in the bakery when you're done!" Lucy chirped before walking away.

Natsu was now wobbling on his feet as he registered what she had just told him. That was the basic information a man can literally go his entire life without knowing. It was a subject he avoided on a daily basses, especially with Erza. 'The Monthlies' is something himself, as a man, doesn't understand and could never hope to understand and _doesn't want_ to understand. But of all things she told him to get . . . and it's _those_?

He stumbled into the isle that read 'Hair and Beauty' and at the end, and god forsake him say it, were the shelves containing the tampons. Looking left and right, he slowly approached the shelf and shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweats and scanned upon the many brains with a strained eye. Which one? There had to be dozens of types here, how do women do this?

For starters, he looked on the ones that read 'regular' on them and ignored the others. He felt himself sweating more by the second as he looked between three different brands of these things and still don't know which one to get. The idea of calling Lucy and asking her was getting stronger by the moment, but refrained knowing that if he called her know and asked 'What tampons do you use?' things will be awkward on both ends—mostly his.

"I recommend the super absorbent."

Natsu looked to his left and saw two teenage men who he has never seen before struggling not to laugh. His eyes narrowed to slits and he felt a vain pop on the side of his temple. He looked down to one of the larger boxes that read 'super absorbent' on them and picked up the closest one.

He grinned, "Thanks," In a swift movement, the box was thrown towards the two men and hit one square in the face, startling them. The grin dropped immediately, "What'cha laughin' at, huh?"

The teens exchanged looks before backing away, "Bastard." One muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"What did you say?" Natsu grabbed another box and tossed it at their retreating backs, "S'what I thought you jits!"

"Sir," Natsu turned his head to an employee who was giving him a low look, "did you find what you need?" The elder woman asked, tapping her foot repeatedly on the ground with her arms crossed. Natsu straightened his back and walked back over to the shelf, not breaking eye contact with her. He grabbed a random box of 'regular' before stepping away.

"Yes. I _did_." He huffed to her before running down the aisle and out of her sight. Nearly running into a few people, he heaved his way across the store and towards the bakery, ignoring the odd looks he was receiving until he spotted a head a blonde by the fruit. He grimaced and ran up to her, skidding to a stop in front of the cart and dropping the box into it.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed before looking down to the box he just dropped in the cart and frowned, "That's not the one I use—"

"It is now." Natsu cut her off, challenging her. He was _so_ not going back there. And a part of him knows she did that on purpose.

"Yes, yes. ." Lucy sweat dropped. She set a decent sized bag of ripe apples down in the small seat in the front of the cart, "Could you get a liter of milk? I'll meet you down there."

Grumbling, Natsu walked sharply around the cart and blew some air on her cheek before stalking away to the cold food isles. He walked up to the row of milk and grabbed a liter of the red wrapped carton before slamming the door shut. Natsu looked behind him to Lucy, who was approaching the distance, "What are you up to?" He muttered to himself. He knows it—he can _feel_ it. That blonde is on to something. Natsu has a sixth sense for this type of thing. . since he knows women like Erza.

"Oh, it's tampon man."

Natsu shot a glare to the two teen boys from before and threatened the carton of milk he was holding to them, making them jump behind some shelves for shelter.

"Natsu? What are you doing?" Lucy asked as she walked up, looking towards where he was glaring.

"Those little craps." Natsu grunted.

"Tampon man!" One shouted, poking their heads from around the shelves, only to immediately duck back down when Natsu made a move to throw the milk at him.

"Tampon man?" Lucy snorted, covering her mouth when Natsu then turned his expression to her, "Sorry." She cleared her throat and trotted over to the yogurt section awkwardly after slyly taking the carton of milk from Natsu's hands before he used it as a weapon. "Natsu! Go get paper towels!" She called over her shoulder.

Natsu scowled and shot one last glare to the two boys before walking away towards the cleaner section of the store, which smelt really bad to his nose. Sure, some scents might be nice and all, but if you put dozens together in one place it's not so great. He walked to the middle of the isle and grabbed an armful of random and different packages. Some dropped to his feet on the ground, but he made no bother to pick them up as he walked away, leaving a trail of them behind him. He met Lucy at the end of the isle and dumped the packages in the cart.

"So many!" Lucy exclaimed, "I only need one package, Natsu!" She walked around the cart and began plucking them out, "Put them back."

Natsu groaned and picked them back up in his arms. Women are difficult species. This is why he didn't want to come, "You're difficult, Lucy!"

"It would only make sense not to grab the _entire_ shelf, Natsu!" Lucy crossed her arms and huffed, pouting.

"The more the better!"

"You have to do everything I say, Natsu," He paused mid-step, "You're acting moody because of some kids. Just ignore them and. ." Her sentence trailed off as Natsu closed in the distance between them, making her stumble back in surprise between the two shelves to their side. Her back 'thudded' against the metal wall and Natsu's arms caged her there, letting the packets of paper towels drop to their feet. Her hands came up on reflex and pressed against his chest as he towered over her.

"Is that what this is all about?" Natsu asked, "Because you have someone to do everything you say?" He arched a brow.

Lucy flushed, "N—No. ." She stuttered, "Wasn't it c—court ordered?"

"Yeah! But that doesn't mean I gotta get your woman things!" Natsu said, obviously still upset about it.

"I was just testing you," Lucy mumbled and diverted her eyes. "Sorry."

"Next time you can get your own woman things!" Natsu said. It was then he finally took notice to how close he was to her and the expression she was making. The look in her eyes was something he couldn't decide on if it was 'nervousness' or something else, but he realized what he was doing and what boundary he may have been cracking, "Oh. . sorry." He made a move to back away from her to give her some space, but as he did so her fingers clamped down on the fabric of his shirt and kept him there.

His eyes widen and locked with hers. Her cheeks were flushed darker than before, and the grip she had on him was strong.

_Shit_, Natsu mentally cursed. He felt his fingers and arms start to itch and ache in a want to hold her, bring her close and smother her own into his chest. He wanted to grab her chin and arch it up so he can press his lips to hers. . but he can't. _Shit_, he cursed again, feeling her hands tighten around his shirt.

He started to feel his body leaning towards hers and her soft, warm breathes caressing his cheek. But it was when he felt his nose brush over hers did he stop himself.

"You know I can't do this." Natsu mumbled with a hoarse and forced tone. He heard her sigh a shaky breath of air and he bit his lip and urged himself to pull away to give her the space she needed.

"I'm sorry. . I didn't mean to. ." Lucy mumbled. She released her grip on him but kept her hands lightly against his chest as she diverted her gaze before letting them slip down to her sides, limply. Natsu ran his tongue over his dry lips and backed away from her and went towards the cart. Lucy followed quietly behind him.

He sent her hesitant glances as they walked out of the isle before sighing and running a hand through his hair and ruffling it around. _Idiot_, Natsu scowled at the shelving and tile. Looking over his shoulder again, he took notice of how Lucy was looking to the ground and everywhere else, seemingly nervous. Natsu sighed again and looked away as well. He felt his face warm up but chose to ignore it.

_I need a drink_, he decided, making a mental note to make a visit to a certain bar before the week is up.


	7. Chapter 7

a/n: i redid the ending of chapter 6 if you haven't seen it yet! i didn't like the hanger, so i added to it. but here's chapter 7! thank you guys! :)

* * *

Touch

Chapter Seven

_Please leave your message after the tone._

_Beep._

"Hey, Natsu! Me again, uh. . call me back when you can, please? Thank you." Lucy then hung up the call and set her phone down in front of her and stared. She repeatedly tapped her finger against the table before she groaned and grabbed her phone again, dialed the number, and pressed it to her ear. It rang a total of six times before his voicemail played and hung up. It has been a week since the _almost kiss_ in the store and they haven't seen nor talked to each other since. They've both been working, yes, but she has tried to contact him numerous times it's ridiculous! Today only, she has probably left him fifteen voicemails.

Is that bad?

_Beep._

"Natsu! Yeah. . me again," She gave a nervous laugh before trying to come up with some excuse to say for calling him for the 20th time tonight. "Uh. . Oh! The lab results came in earlier. They haven't found anything wrong with the body yet, but. . but that's okay! We'll keep looking, alright? And uh. . just call me back when you get this. Talk to you later." She hung up, set her phone back down on the table, reached for it aga—"This is ridiculous!" Tossing her arms around her, she grabbed her paper work and clipboard and shoved her phone in her pocket before speed walking out of the room. "I have work to do! I can just keep calling him like—"

_Thump._

The door she was pushing open stopped halfway as it collided into something, catching her off-guard. She squeaked in surprise as she scurried to see what and/ or who she had hit, finding her blue-haired friend on the floor in a daze, Juvia.

"Ju—Juvia! I am so sorry, are you alright?" Lucy bent down to her knees to help her friend up to her feet and scanned her face for any sign of pain in worry, but the woman had her eyes directed elsewhere—like she didn't even notice she was just smacked by a door. She followed her gaze behind her, landing her eyes on Gray who was leaning against the wall by the lobby entrance talking to Mirajane. Her mouth formed in a little 'o' upon realization.

"Sheriff Gray. . ." Juvia sighed and leaned her weight on Lucy unknowingly. Lucy, who nearly fell over because of this, let out a grunt as she tried to sit the woman up straight.

"Why don't you go talk to him, Juvia? Instead of watching him from afar like this. . it's creepy." She suggested.

Juvia shook her head and flushed brightly, "Sheriff Gray is too busy for Juvia to talk! She shouldn't bother him."

Lucy sighed and looked between the girl and the two by the entrance, suddenly having new formed idea, "Well, I have to go check up on some patients—can you give this to Mirajane for me, Juvia?" She asked, taking the folder reports from the lab she had tucked under her arm and handing it over to her.

"Sure." Lucy waved her thanks as she quickly took off for the elevator as Juvia turned to look for the silver-haired woman, but stopped upon realizing she was standing next to Gray. "Lucy did this on purpose!" She shrieked.

"Thanks again Juvia!" Lucy said before hopping into the elevator and pressing the fourth button. She sighed and leaned against the wall and dropped her hand in her pocket to pick up her phone, "Why won't you call back?" She murmured in disappointment before dropping the electronic back in her pocket. The doors 'dinged' before sliding open to let her out and Lucy pushed herself off the wall and walked into halls and headed for room 4-117 that was in the left direction. She got her master card out to unlock the door before quietly stepping foot into the room,

"Good evening, Mr. Dunning!" She greeted brightly.

The man didn't move, but she knew he was aware of her arrival. Lucy walked over to the side of his bed and checked his IV's and pressure before adjusting his bed to where he was in a sitting position, "I have to change your tubes, alright? Don't want to sleep the whole night with the same ones you wore all day." She walked around to the end of the bed to check off his schedule, "Levy gave you dinner right before I walked in, I see." She mumbled to herself as she jotted down a few numbers and signed her name next to her shift. Clicking her pen shut, she dropped the clipboard and walked back around the bed to the sink and cabinets that were along the walls, and grabbed a packet of fresh breathing tubes that were stored in there for him.

She set them down on the counter before moving over to the sink to wash her hands before slipping on a pair of rubber gloves from one of the boxes sitting on the shelf beside his bed. First before she removed the used tubes from his nose, she opened the packet and put together the trach. Carefully, she grabbed the base of the tubes and slowly pulled on them until they were far enough for her to slip out before quickly grabbing the fresh ones and slipping them through his nostrils. Then placing her index and middle finger lightly against his throat, she carefully secured them to ensure he can breathe correctly and smoothly.

Lucy breathed a breath of relief as she put the used ones in the packet and tossed them in the trash along with her gloves. No matter how many times she does it, replacing patients breathing tubes makes her nervous. She made sure the ventilator was going to be good for the night before grabbing his clipboard again and checking off. Tracheostomy isn't exactly a strong point for her, but she passes.

Walking to the side of his bed again, she dimmed the light down to not glare into his eyes while he sleeps and turned down the volume of the television.

Mo has been here going on three months, but has been hospitalized for about six. He was still able to talk and communicate when he was first transferred here and she remembers the times he would smile and greet her brightly, and it left a painful weight on her chest. He used to be very talkative and positive, and loved to make them all laugh.

_"One's like Mo might appreciate just _hearing _someone's voice even if he can't speak anymore."_

Lucy looked down to Mo who was looking at her with gleaming hazel eyes that still held pureness in them, and frowned. She looked at her watch to see the time and sighed before turning around and pulling up the chair that was set by the window in the room. Sliding up to his bed, she folded her hands together in her lap and smiled to him.

"I. ." She didn't know what to say, honestly. How would she start? "Natsu, he—he. . Mo, I promise I will be here as often as I can to be with you." She settle on that and let it flow, moving closer beside him and setting her palm lightly on the sheets beside him, "And I'm sure. . Natsu will come visit some times, okay? He's the one that. . called you a woman, which I am very sorry for. . but he also told me some things, and I am sorry for not speaking to you like I used to." She made a promise to him to be here when she can. After getting Mo situated in bed, Lucy walked out of the room and shut the door quietly behind her. She will be sure to visit him more often.

And by how he looks in his condition, he may not have that much time left, she thought with a frown.

As she walked back in the elevator and pressed '6' on the floor numbers, she leaned against the wall and pulled her phone back out of her pocket and sighed, seeing nothing new. The elevator stopped at the fourth floor, and the doors opened to reveal Levy.

"Lucy!" Levy skipped into the elevator and wrapped her arms around the blonde in greeting, "I haven't seen you all day!" She whined.

"Levy!" Lucy hugged back as the elevator doors closed, "I just put Mo into bed, I had just missed you when I walked in." She released her, "How are you?"

"I'm tired, but good! Glad I'll be going home in a few hours." Levy sighed in exhaustion but still smiled and held her clipboard to her chest, "How are things with the court? The date is coming up, right?"

Lucy nodded, "Soon, but we still have time. I actually spoke to my P.O early during lunch, she couldn't get a hold of Natsu—which, by the way Levy, you talk to Gajeel right?" She questioned, pulling out her phone again.

Levy's eyes widen and her face heated up, and she started sputtering, "What makes you think I—"

"_Levy_," Lucy raised a brow and gave her friend the '_don't even_' look.

Levy sighed defeat and hung her head, "I ran into him at the store and we talked, and Mira happen to be there too. Now everything thinks we're involved. ."

"Are you?"

"Lucy!" Levy yelped and blushed tenfold, "Wh—Why do you want to know anyway? I'm—"

"Because Natsu works with Gajeel and I'm worried he's ignoring me," She frowned and dropped her phone back in her pocket as the elevator doors opened on the sixth floor. Levy followed her out and walked beside her as they walked down the hall.

"Did something happen between the two of you, Lucy?" Levy asked with interest.

Lucy swallowed and diverted her gaze, hoping Levy doesn't see the redness that most likely is coating her cheeks at the moment, "I. . almost kissed him last week. . that's all."

Pause.

"REALLY?!" Levy shrieked in excitement and was practically now jumping up and down in her place. Lucy's face went ablaze as she tried to quiet down the girl upon her outburst. People and staff members were now looking at then in confusion and surprise, and it was a little embarrassing.

"Shh Levy, shush!" Lucy hissed. She gripped Levy's shoulders and guided her into a corner, "I don't want the entire Hospital to know! Don't tell anyone, please?"

"I knew you liked him." Levy smirked and snickered teasingly, "What was his reaction? Did he try to kiss you back?"

"I—" Lucy frowned, again, and shook her head and looked to the ground. The smile on Levy's face slowly dropped as well as her excitement, "He said he couldn't, so I doubt that he. . . you know,"

Levy snorted, sending Lucy off-guard. The shorter woman placed a gentle and friendly hand on Lucy's shoulder and smiled, "And I doubt that. If there's anyone you could go to to find Natsu, it's Sheriff Gray."

"Gray?" Lucy questioned, getting a nod in return.

* * *

The elevator doors beeped open as it fell to the first floor of the lobby, and Lucy stepped out and walked her way over to the side of the main desk to turn her work and hours in. As she handed Mirajane her clipboard and folders, she sighed.

"Tired?" Mirajane smiled, "Good work today, Lucy."

"I'll manage, thank you Mira," She smiled back and unclipped her talky from around her neck and set it on the counter. The last patient her tended was a twelve year-old boy with strep throat, and on top of that, had just got his tonsils removed. With all ice-cream and cold sweets they have been giving him, it took pulling legs and teeth to get him in bed. How long did it take her? Twenty minutes to get him in bed? It was certainly a hassle and a challenge, but he soon complied to her request and his father's orders.

"Romeo refused to go to bed again, huh?" Mirajane snickered.

"I'll say. ." Lucy laughed, "Having _that_ much energy after surgery? No wonder he's in the Hospital." They shared a short laugh before Mirajane turned to another worker who was turning in, and Lucy looked around the lobby curiously, scanning the faces of the families and coworkers until something came to mind, "Say, Mira," She started, "Is the sheriff still here?"

"Gray? He's right outside, but I think he was about the leave." Mirajane answered, "Something about a call in in the station, I'm not sure."

"Thanks!" Lucy nodded and thanked her before jogging out the door to meet the said man who was stepping into his curser. "Gray!" She called out to him as she sprinted up to the side of his car. The man paused and looked up to her as she approached, then grinned.

"Hello rude lady." Gray greeted.

"Rude lady? How am I—"

"I've seen you countless times today, and not once did you bother to say 'hello', "The fake pout and teasing look he was giving made her nearly want to roll her eyes, "how rude of you, Lucy."

"Look—I'm sorry! It's just I was working, and—" Lucy defended, but was cut off by a snort.

"I was just pullin' your leg, Lucy," Gray stepped back out of his car and slammed the door shut and leaned against it. He crossed his arms over his chest in front of her and nodded his head, "What's up?"

Lucy paused and sighed, "Where is Natsu? I mean, "Another pause, "he hasn't been picking up my calls—I probably left 20 voicemails today and the Probation Officer has been trying to get a hold of too, and—"

"_Twenty_?" Gray asked in disbelief, "You left him _20_ voicemails today?"

"Yeah, this morning. ." Lucy blushed and furrowed her brows at him. There was that grin again. What was with people today? Specially him and Levy!

"Man, you got it _bad_," Gray grinned wider.

"What?" She questioned, but received a shake of the head and silence in return. Gray stared at her for a few moments with the same teasing grin on his features, and she was becoming more self-conscious by the second. Thankfully, something caught his attention and tore his eyes away.

"By the way, who's the woman back there?" Gray questioned as he leaned forward and pointed behind her. Lucy followed the direction his finger was pointing until she came in eye-contact with the woman in question, and then it was her turn to grin.

"Why? Are you interested, Sheriff?" She smirked. Gray rolled his eyes in return. Juvia was turned around in one of the waiting chairs in the Hospital lobby by the automatic door entrance with her fingers gripping the back of the chair. Her teal-colored hair was up in high pony-tail and had her stethoscope loosely around her shoulders. Lucy assumed the girl had just finished her shift and was going to head home, until she saw Gray.

"She's been giving me this look all day, like," Gray tried to explain, but was struggling on the words, "I don't know, like I'm going to jump her or somethin', you know?"

"I wouldn't say that. ." Lucy mumbled.

"Alright, so about the hot-head, "Gray moved on, sending glances to the blunette watching them as he tried to cox with the blonde in front of him," It's Friday, so you might want to check Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail?" Lucy questioned with a raised brow.

"Yeah, it's a bar a few blocks from the fire house." Gray nodded, "It has 'Fairy Tail' written in big red letters in front of the building, you can't miss it."

"Can you give me directions?"

* * *

"Ah," Lucy now stood in front of the building that read 'Fairy Tail' in big red lit up letters in front of it. It was probably well past midnight by now, it was lighting up the entire area around it. Nothing like she imagined, really. Whatever was going on inside can be heard clearly from the outside, and no one walking by seemed to notice or really care, so this would be considered normal, she assumed. To be honest here, she felt rather nervous. What if Natsu was really in there, what would say after approaching? The thing Gray told her before he left earlier has her all riled up.

"_I drunken man does and says what he's always wanted, Lucy."_

She doesn't know what he meant by that, but it's just sticking to the side of her mind. But without further delay, Lucy walked towards the entrance of the building and pulled opened the door. She almost considered walking right back out the moment the door closed behind her. The atmosphere she was met with was thick and _loud_. People were yelling, screaming, half naked, and doing things in corners and tables she'd rather un-see. But she caught a faint glimpse of salmon hair and felt her stomach flip. At the bar, in his work clothing and all, was the man she's been looking for.

He was drunk, as she thought he would be, and was talking to the bartender behind the counter. The woman, she thought with envy, was gorgeous. She had a bob-cut hair style, silver-colored hair and blue eyes. Besides the envy and jealously rising in her chest, the girl reminded her of Mirajane. The sweet smile and soft features are about the same and the smile and flushed cheeks shows the woman has a fleeting interest in the drunken male she was talking to. But to Lucy's relief, the woman walked away and gave her the opportunity to approach. With a deep breath to calm herself, she quickly walked up to him. At every step her heart picked up faster and faster until she was sure it would burst. Her fingers tapped Natsu's shoulder to catch his attention, but he didn't budge. The second time she did it, he turned around with his beer bottle pressed to his lips.

He whistled after getting a good look at her, "What do we have here?" He grinned.

Lucy felt her cheeks burn, "Natsu," She took the seat beside him, and his clouded eyes followed her. The bartender walked up again and smiled to Lucy.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked sweetly, making Lucy almost feel bad with the envy she felt just moments before.

She looked to Natsu from the corner of her eye and puckered her lip. He had his arms crossed over the counter with his chin against them, and he was staring at her. It was almost a smolder, she thought, or it may have just been her imagination.

"May I just have a glass of water?" She asked, her nervousness almost giving out in her tone.

"Sure thing!" The bartender smiled and turned around to get her drink.

"Lisanna!" Natsu suddenly yelled, causing both herself and the bartender to jump is surprise, "Gimme another drink, would'ya?"

"I think you've had enough, Natsu." The bartender, Lisanna, said sternly with her hands on her hips. Lucy's glass of water was set in front of her, "I think you should go home and rest."

"Yerrr no fun, ya know that?" Natsu pointed and slapped his hands on the counter before turning in his seat and standing up. Lucy gasped and quickly dug into her pocket and put some money down on the counter.

"Can I have this to-go?" She asked, and Lisanna nodded and leaned down to grab a Styrofoam cup from under the counter. After the water was poured into the cup and a lid was clicked on it, Lucy grabbed it, "Thank you!"

"Make sure he gets home safe!" Lisanna yelled to Lucy.

"I will!" Lucy yelled back as she ran out the door where Natsu had just stumbled out of. She looked left and right until she spotted him leaning against the building as he walked, "Natsu!" She ran up to him and gripped his arm to stop him. He paused and dropped his head to look at her, then grinned.

"Heyo," He slurred.

"Hey. ." Lucy mumbled back and nearly groaned out loud when he leaned his _entire_ weight on her. Her arms came around his torso to steady them while his arm fell around her shoulders and his head leaned into hers.

Natsu snickered, "You're clingy,"

"Yo—You're heavy!" Lucy puffed out, "Come on, let's get you home." Natsu groaned aloud and threw his head back, through his weight off for a moment before, the very next, he smelled her hair. Lucy squeaked and tightened her grip on him on reaction and flushed brightly.

"You're a gurl, riiight?" He asked, not minding what he just did.

"O—Of course I am!" She shrieked.

"So can I ask ya somethin'?" Natsu asked, "Ya know, it's about a woman."

Lucy felt her stomach sink a little, but she tried to ignore the feeling, "Sure, what is it?" She told him to go on anyway.

"How. . do you tell if a woman likes you?" Natsu asked.

Lucy snorted, "A man in his 20's doesn't know how to tell if a woman likes him?"

"Shut up this one is complicated as shit!" Natsu shouted, startling a few couples that walked passed them. He stumbled a little and leaned more against her, throwing her balance off for a second, "I almost kissed her, but. . bleh,"

"'Bleh'?" Lucy questioned, "What do you mean 'bleh'? Did you not want to kiss her?" Each moment, her chest started to feel heavier, but she endured.

"ShhhhHhh," Natsu sluggishly pressed his fingers to her lips to silence her, and leaned lean to where his lips were between her ear and cheek, "Don tell Lucy. ." His breathed washed over her skin and sent tingles down her neck and arms, and Lucy felt her body start to warm up. The way his voice sounded, deep and husky, wasn't helping either.

But her eyes widen at his words, then down-casted. So he didn't want to kiss her after all?

"Le—Let's just get you home, alright?" She stuttered and bit her lip. Her heart felt like a ton and was weighting painfully down. There was a knot in her throat that she just couldn't get down. Does he even know who he's speaking to and what he's saying? She figured he must know, but just doesn't comprehend it fully.

Lucy looked up and saw that the fire house was coming to her view, meaning they were almost to his house. Thankfully she has the key Natsu gave her to his house, so she can get him inside and in bed and leave without any problems. That was her plan.

They were starting to take up most of the sidewalk by now from Natsu's stumbling and wavering steps that made her waver as well. He was heavy, like, a lot. But from what she can feel under her arms that were wrapped around his torso, pretty much most of the weight on him was muscle. Her legs were starting to sting from supporting his weight so much, and she was starting to think he was leaning and stumbling on her purposely, she thought, because he was grinning like some fool.

"I don't want'ta walk anymore," Natsu grumbled as they started walking passed the fire house. He eyed the building and Lucy noticed the garage was closed, which was odd, since they always have it open and the drive way light on. But she can tell people were still there since there were some lights on inside. "Luucccy!" Natsu groaned.

She sighed, "Fine, we'll stop for a few minutes." She started pushing him towards the valley beside the fire house and he started to groan more," Just rest a bit, but don't fall asleep I am not carrying you home."

"Hmm," Natsu leaned against the wall with his head back and eyes closed, and she leaned against the one a cross from.

Well, at least she's not alone here. To be honest, she's not very fond of this valley as of a few months prior. Lucy pulled out her phone to check the time, finding it was almost 1AM. She sighed, looks like she'll be getting home late, but her first priority is getting him home. Her phone dropped back in her pocket and she looked up, meeting his gaze, she froze. His hands were removing the jacket he had on and she started to panic.

Was he going to strip?!

"Natsu!" She squealed and covered her eyes like some middle-school girl, "What are you doing?"

"It's hot. . " He grumbled as the jacket fell off his arms.

Lucy uncovered her eyes and raised a brow at him. To be honest, it was a little chilly to her. But maybe it was because he was intoxicated that he felt that way. And also, since she forgot to wear a jacket. You could almost see your breath if you breathe heavy enough. She looked to end of the valley where almost no people could be seen walking the sidewalks, which was understandable, knowing how late it was. Very few cars were on the streets and no apartment lights were on, but she knows the city never sleeps, somebody is almost awake. Like her, for instance, who was standing in a dark valley with a drunk fireman.

Some shifting gravel entered her ears, and she snapped her head up to the source. Her breath hitched in the back of her throat when she realized Natsu was right in front of her.

She swallowed, "Are you ready to go home now?" Lucy asked, trying her hardest to keep her tone under control. He did not answer and remained silent. She was starting to get nervous, and what was with that look in his eyes? "Natsu?" She mumbled, watching him move as his arms came up and caged her head on the wall. He was getting closer, "C—Come on! Let's get you home, alright? You need rest." She reached her hand up and grabbed his arm and turned to walk away, but he moved down and grabbed her thighs. She yelped as she back hit the wall and her hands went around his shoulders on instinct. Her legs were around his hips where his hands were gripping her thighs.

What was he doing?

"Don't leave. . Luce. ." He croaked into her ear as his fingers started brushing through her hair. A wave of shivers shot down her spine and she froze, fingers unconsciously digging into the fabric of his shirt as his nose trailed down the sensitive skin on her ear. He nipped the lobe of her ear and she jerked in surprise, sending her hips into his. They both stiffened at the contact.

Natsu leaned back after a moment, pressing his hips into hers to keep her pinned there as his hands started to wonder up. Lucy swallowed and let out a shaky breath of air as his hands slid up her hips, and his thumbs feathered the skin under the ends of her shirt. And it was when he started to pull it up did she start to panic a little.

"Wait, Natsu—!" She jumped up as he pushed forward and pinned her against the brick walling again. Lucy's hands gripped his shoulders as he started kissing up and down her neck, to her shoulder and back up. Her face pressed into his shoulder and her breathing was starting to uneven, as well as her legs tightening around him. And what was with his body heat? Did he have a fever? She had moved to check to distract herself from the situation, but his hand grabbed her wrist and moved it. "Natsu. . you're drunk. . you shouldn't. . haa,"

How should she take this? What does this mean? Does he like her? She can't tell, her mind was starting to cloud. And no matter how good it was starting to feel, she has to stop it.

Lucy tried to wiggle her wrist free and even tried to pry him from her neck with her other hand, but it was futile. "N—Natsu!" She yelped and arched her back when he bit down on her collar-bone, and pressed her chest into his. The moan that left her lips caught her by shock, and she stiffened.

"Lucy," Natsu's voiced as he leaned back up. His hands came up slid under her jaw and cupped the back of her neck, and he swallowed.

"You're drunk. . I need to get you home," Lucy whispered, "You're such an idiot." Why was he doing this to her?

"Heh," He scoffed. Ignoring what she said, he leaned forward and pressed his chapped lips into her moist ones, pressing his body more into hers. The moment their mouths came in contact, that was it. Lucy melted into it and sighed, bringing her arms up around his neck once again to pull him closer. A familiar tingling sensation erupted in her chest when she felt his tongue brush between her lips, asking for entrance. The faint taste of alcohol touched her, and was enough for her to pull away. But the moment the air hit them he was dominating her mouth once again, and it was becoming harder and harder for her to resist it.

She felt her back started to slid down the wall, and Lucy gripped his shoulders for support as he kneeled on the ground with her straddling hips against the wall she was still leaning on. Again, she felt his tongue brush between her lips; she parted them without a second thought.

Without breaking contact, Natsu starting sliding her off the wall to where her back was on the ground in front of him, and his hands came up to cage her from either side of her head. Their hips were still aligned and her legs were still wrapped securely around him, pulling him closer as their stomachs pressed together.

They pulled away for air, "Natsu. ." Lucy whispers as her hand came up to cup his cheek. She looked over him lovingly, loving the flushness of his cheeks and the way his gaze hazed over her. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest, and she can hear it pulsing in her ears. The sight, to her, was breathtaking.

Is this how she really feels for him? She wonders.

Natsu leaned back down and pressed his lips to her neck and started nipping a trail down her shoulder as his hands worked their way up her clothing. His movements were starting to get slower, Lucy noticed, and figured it was best to stop it now before it lead to something. She tried to nudge his shoulder, but her arms fell back in half-hearted effort. The air was hot around them was rather warm despite the chilling weather, and she was sure she was starting to see the puffs of air that was being panted from her mouth.

A loud gasp escaped her throat when the cool air hit the skin of her abdomen, and she finally comprehended that he had managed to pull her shirt up. She flushed and tried to pull it back down, but his weight suddenly fell down on her, then silence. His breathing was even, and she thought, with a frown, that he was out cold. Her eyes squeezed shut and her arms fell limply around his head, suddenly feeling stupid.

"I'm such a fool," Lucy mumbled to herself. She should have stopped it, but in the back of her mind, something was telling her she couldn't have if she really tried. She managed to flip them over to allow herself to stand up and adjust herself and her appearance, but who would care? She leaned down and crouched beside him, looking over his sleeping features.

Will he remember what he—they just did? She thought. Or will things change between them?

Leaning against the wall outside the valley the two were in, out of sight, was a sheriff who had a small grin on his features, having just witness the situation the two were in, "That idiot."

* * *

a/n: i regret nothing


	8. Chapter 8

a/n: i rewrote this twice, but i'm sorry it took so long! i was also on a semi-hiatus since one of my hands was pretty injured to where i was _physically_ unable to type. but all is well now! here's chapter eight, guys! thank you!

* * *

Touch

Chapter Eight

Waking up was a long process. His raging nerves were throbbing against all curves of his skull and his tongue tasted faintly of whiskey and other varieties if alcohol. His bedroom ceiling circled his vision as he tried to blink his eyes open and adjust his position. Aches and slightly numb pains formed around parts of his limbs and abdomen as he body caught up to his waken state, but consciousness returned to him in bits and pieces. He comprehended his bed that he was currently laid flat on his back in and the dark form that stood at his bedside. Natsu groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, mentally cursing and regretting ever going to the bar in the prior night. Though he had yet to recollect all the pieces and details of his bouts from last night, only flash memories poured in his mind before they were replaced by the fierce headache that was washing over.

"Welcome back to the living, sleeping beauty." The sudden voice startled him. Natsu yelped and shot up from his laying position. It felt like his head had come in contact with a concrete wall as the force of his movement hit him, causing him to fall back into his sheets and pillows clutching his face and temples in pain. "Natsu calm down! It's just me." Gray tried to calm the groaning fireman down as he thrashed and threw the pillows and quilts off the mattress.

Natsu snarled and peeked an eye up to the policeman from his bundle of misery, "Bastard.. What the fuck are you doing in my house?!" He yelled, soon regretting it as a wave of pain shot through his temple.

"I would rather hear a 'thank you' since you should be grateful I brought you home." Gray snarled back and narrowed his eyes, "Maybe I should have left you there in that valley to freeze to death."

"What?" Natsu raised a brow. He slowly inched himself up to a seated position over the side of the bed, directly in front of the man. He looked confused and almost lost as he urged his mind to remember the effects that were blurred in his memory. He noted the faint vanilla scent that lingered in senses and dropped his eyes and pressed the heel of his palm to them. Lucy's tense expression surfaced his thoughts and he felt every muscle in his body stiffen. The sound of her voice, her flushed expression, and the image of her body pressed against his with his hand caressing up her top . . . all of it came flooding back to him.

_Oh no._

"It's going on noon. You gotta get to work, right?" Gray muttered, looking at the clock that was sitting on the bedside table, "You reek. Go get in the shower, man."

"Where's Lucy?" Natsu mumbled. His tone was flat and low and Gray had barely caught what he said. Natsu looked up and sent a short glance around the dim room and frowned, seeing that, indeed, the blonde wasn't in their presence. He stood though, wobbling on his weight as the pain in his head demanded to be acknowledged above else. His shoulder brushed passed Gray's as he walked his way around the furniture and into the bathroom.

"Oh man . . . you remember all that?" Gray cursed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He stepped over and dropped down in a sitting position on the side of the bed and sighed. He was actually going to be considerate and not tell, but he had hoped he wouldn't remember the events that took place in his drunken state. A pity, really.

Natsu ignored him as he turned the shower on and peeled his shirt over his shoulders and head. He let out a long breath as he closed the door and leaned his head against it, pressing his forehead into the hard wooden surface that seemed to sooth the hangover that was gnawing at his skull. The pain was now the least of his worries, but he reached over to the medicine cabinet and got the aspirin out nonetheless. His mind was set on Lucy and how things are going to be for now on. How will she react to seeing him after they did such a thing? What kind expression should he make? Questions like those bombarded his thoughts.

And as he stood beneath the cool water that beaded down his shoulders and back, a deep scowl remained on his lips as the scene replayed over and over.

"_Idiot_." He gritted his teeth, gripping his fist until his knuckles were as white as the tile his head was pressed up against. Why couldn't he keep himself under control? He's never done that before. But the expressions she made in reaction to his caresses and touch, he knew that for now on . . she was indeed going to drive him crazy.

But 'for now on' was the thing he was worried about. Would there even be a 'for now on' after that? He had crossed the line last night with her; severed boundaries that should have never been touched between them. But he also can't deny how _he_ feels about it. The things he can recall feeling last night with her in his arms, bodies pressed against and sliding down the wall—he loved it, and he hates it. It was how Lucy felt about it is what is agitating him. He thinks if things between them were to a take a turn for the bad . . .

He'd rather go to jail.

.

.

.

.

Since he arrived to the station, he had done nothing but avoid people and space out. Gajeel was getting irritated by Natsu's behavior and wasn't hiding a bit of it at all. Every moment he walked passed the pierced man, the air would turn thick and he could just _feel _the scowl that was directed at him. The new recruits were currently in the weight room by orders since he knows his mind wasn't clear enough to help train them, and Gajeel was left in charge and to monitor them, which may explain the bad mood the long-haired man was currently in, also knowing the recruits were _Natsu's_ job. But since he's fighting a hangover and an inner turmoil, Gajeel was stuck with the work.

Gray was leaned against the side of the garage with a shady, concentrated look in eyes as he watched the salmon-haired man work. Natsu would occasionally send a look to the man with question before returning to his work on hand. They fell into that type of pattern for a while before Natsu finally got fed up the attention trailing him and snapped at the sheriff, startling him enough for his eyes to nearly bulged from their sockets.

"What is it?!" Natsu shouted, causing his voice to echo through the room and bounce in the valleys on the near buildings. To Gray, the city seemed to go silent. Or it was just the ringing in his ears. There was a silence as Gray tried to recollect his hearing and get over his shock before sighing.

"I'm worried. Is that so wrong?" He asked, uncrossing his arms and stepping into the garage. He tilted his hat and eyed the fireman from under the rim, waiting for him to respond. _If_ he was going to. Natsu's features softened for a moment—_a split moment_, it was gone before Gray could even comprehend it, making him think he had imagined it.

"There's nothing for you to worry about. I took an aspirin, I'm fine." Natsu muttered, shedding his sweatshirt off his back and tossing it in the front seat of one of the trucks windows before walking around the hood to the passenger side of it.

Gray followed, eyes not leaving him, "Well, you know, that's _good_. But that's not what I'm worried about."

"Then what is it?" Natsu growled, glaring.

"Lucy."

It was a simple answer, a statement actually. But it was enough to make him stop in tracks. He was in mid movement to lifting himself up into the seat of the truck, but Gray's response had stopped him. Natsu swallowed and hung his head and stepped back down from the step and slammed the door shut.

"What about her?" Natsu asked softly, diverting his eyes to avoid contact. Afraid of the response, he moved passed him and walked his way back around the truck and towards the stairs, but not without catching Gray's answer.

"She's coming by for her break! Thought I'd least tell you that." No response or noise was given, nothing but the thuds that were made as Natsu ran his way up the stairs and to the kitchen, he assumed. Gray groaned lowly and tipped his hat off and ruffled his hair before adjusting it back on. "That idiot."

Natsu scowled at his feet until it made it to the top of the stairs where he went straight into his bedroom and tossed his sweatshirt on the bed. He cursed and paced in full circle before he dropped down on the side of the bed, leaned his elbows on his knees and ran his hands through his bangs, leaving them to fall over his eyes. She was coming here, he thought in silence. Was that a sign that she _didn't_ hate his very guts? Or was it to come make him feel more like absolute shit for what he did while his mind was numb?

He sighed. He'll take the latter if there is one.

His eye caught the sight of a small bundle that was laid at the bottom of his mattress. It was pink, he thought with a raised brow. The color seemed familiar to him, so when he reached over and grabbed it to see what the clothing was, he nearly cursed out loud.

Lucy's scrubs. The ones the wore last time she was here for the meeting with their Probation Officer. They were wrinkled and still slightly damp from when they were drenched from the hose—or when _he_ drenched them with the hose. Slowly, he brought it up closer to his face to take a curious woof of his sent and cringed when the smell of mildew filled his senses. Reeling the article of clothing out in front of him and away from his nose, he thrust himself off the bed and sprinted out of the room and down the narrow hall before he made it to the wall of fire poles. He leaned over and grabbed one for balance before shouting—

"Gajeel!" There was a shuddering clash of metal and the clanging noise of various tools cluttering to the ground in the garage, followed by some bright cursing before the ruff man's voice respond back to him, his anger showing perfectly in the tone.

"Damnit! The _fuck_ you want, salamander?!" Gajeel roared.

"Didn't I tell ya to wash these?!" Natsu yelled back, gesturing to the pink bundle of clothing he was gripping in his fist even though the man downstairs currently couldn't see what he was talking about.

"Wash _what_?! Ya never told me to wash a thing!" Gajeel responded, not holding back on his temper.

"Lucy's uniform! I told you to wash them the _last week_, damnit!"

Gajeel laughed, "I'm not washin' yer girlfriends clothes! Do that yourself, bastard!"

Natsu growled and straightened his back and stepped away from the fire poles. He examined the clothing in his hand and frowned, rolled his eyes before dragging his feet back down the hall to the bathroom, where, also, the washing machine is located. He dropped the clothing in and slammed the top closed and turned it on and walked out, frowning deeply. Damn that Gajeel. Damn him to hell.

In the distance, the grown man sneezed.

* * *

"Lucy? Lucy!" Levy waved and snapped her fingers in front of the blondes face, trying to get her attention. She was spaced out in the middle of her work. Lucy jumped and snapped out of her trace and sent a quick, panicked glance around herself before turning back to Levy with a questionable expression.

"What? Levy?" Lucy questioned, looking at the shorter woman like a fish. Levy looked at her friend in disbelief before dropping her head and sighing. Lucy blinked and looked around her surroundings once again, thinking the reason would be spotted.

"You've been zoning out since you got here, Lucy. Is everything alright?" Levy asked in worry. Lucy frowned to her for a few moments before she sighed herself.

"No, I'm fine. I'm sorry." She mumbled, "Just . . my mind is at war right now."

"So something _did_ happen," Levy smiled and shook her head, "You want to talk about it?"

Lucy paused and seemed to be considering the offer. She eyed Levy from the corner of her eye and puffed her cheeks in thought and furrowed her brows together. She examined the bluenette from head to hip for a few moments before she opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. Lucy diverted her eyes and felt her cheeks warm up as the images and memories from last night played over and over in her mind, and she could almost still _feel_ the delightful things she felt when Natsu touched her—kissed her with passion she didn't think he possesed. She didn't sleep at all when she returned home last night, and is working on barely fifteen minutes of sleep. How could anyone expect her to sleep after doing that? Lucy was thinking of telling Levy, her best friend, about the heated events that took place between her and Natsu, but how would she take it? How should she word it?

"Say . . L—Levy," Lucy mumbled hesitantly, shifting her weight nervously between both her feet and fidget. Her face heated up more, "How far have you gone with. . Gajeel?" Silence followed after. Lucy, in slight worry, looked back up to her friend to find the reasons for this, and gasped, finding the petite woman gaping, eyes wide as bowls and face red as the medical crest. Not a moment later did Levy snap and start smacking Lucy with the clipboard she was hugging in her arms.

"THERE IS NOTHING BETWEEN GAJEEL AND I! YOU PROMISED, LU! _YOU PROMISED!_" Levy shouted. Lucy blinked dully at her, not minding the clipboard that was currently being repeatedly slapped into her arm at the moment. Levy sputtered and yelped and continued hitting her until her arms started burning, and dropped limp to her sides. Once the girl seemed to have calmed down to a reasonable degree, Lucy spoke up.

"So, you have—?"

"Lu—Lucy!" Levy cut her off, "Why are you asking? No!"

"I'm asking! Natsu and I... we—" She paused and pressed her lips together in a thin line, watching Levy's expression go blank for a moment before her jaw fell slack and her eyes widen. Knowing she was going to start teasing her about it, Lucy grabbed Levy's wrist and tugged her out of the hall and into one of the patient rooms. Luckily, it was unoccupied.

"You and—and Natsu? You guys did—?!" Levy sputtered happily, "When? Lucy! How did you guys—" Two hands clamped down on her mouth to silence her, but she continued to murmur happily from behind them. Lucy flushed darker and tried to cox the girl into being quiet so she could speak and _actually_ explain herself. She hasn't even finished her sentence and Levy is already assuming _that_!

"Can I explain?" Lucy asked.

"Oh! Yes! Tell me _everything_, and don't leave out a thing." Levy smirked and leaned closer. Lucy sighed and rubbed her temple. Sometimes, she swears Levy could be worse than Mirajane when it came to gossip about love. But in her opinion, Mirajane was the most dangerous. If she came to know any of the things her and Levy have shared with one another about their _interest_, the cheerfulness would become frightening because that woman_ knew just how to get under peoples skin_ to uncover things she believes is being kept from her. If anything, Mirajane could have made it as a lawyer. Both her and Levy know—and that is _not_ excluding any other of their coworkers and/ or friends that know the woman—that this is practically _Mirajane's Hospital_—nothing is a secret in these halls. Thus, for the point of that, they had to be careful.

Lucy, defeated, walked around Levy and peeked outside the small window and carefully insured the door was closed and tugged the curtain down, before walking back over. She took a moment of silence to prepare herself for this talk, going over in her mind how she was going to word this. Taking a deep breath, she averted her eyes to meet with Levy's curious, waiting hues and started, quite bluntly.

"Me and Natsu almost did it."

Even though she had tried to think of her wording carefully, when she actually heard them roll off her tongue, she merely wanted to slap her palm to her forehead. 'Did it'? Could she really sound more like a love-sick freshman who had just experience _boys_ for the first time? You would think a professional young woman as herself would have the decency to tell her best friend straight up: "Me and Natsu got pretty heated in the valley last night". In other words, being technical here ( and blunt ), they almost had sex. That was her perspective of where the situation was headed. Especially since he was drunk.

There was a shriek that startled her to the bone, and Lucy was taken back by the sudden state her friend was now in. Levy's clipboard dropped to the ground and cluttered against the smooth tile as her hands came up to cover her mouth to muffle her excited and squealed noises that were threatening to escape her lips in an ear piercing sound. Lucy blushed tenfold, knowing what was coming next, and surely after that thought had barely settled in her mind, Levy leaped forward and grabbed her wrist and yanked them forward.

"Tell. Me. Everything!" Levy's eyes shone brightly in which Lucy had come to know as curiosity, for which the girl holds more of it than her height. But as the woman in front of her began to beam and pile her in questions, Lucy smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up more than before.

How she feels at ease and relaxed at this moment. She knows after this is her break, and she promised herself she would go see Natsu at the Fire Department, and she hopes he is willing to see her. Her chest has felt heavy since Gray drove her home early this morning because she has no idea what to expect when she sees him again. Her heart still had a quick pace to it, like a flutter of wings a bird has on its first flight.

She has never felt like this towards anyone before. The light, fuzzy and warm feeling . . . but also the pain that comes with it.

.

.

.

Lucy shrugged her cardigan on her shoulders and adjusted the sides around her waist as the chilly air hit her as she stepped foot out the doors. She had her shoulder bag strapped over her shoulder for it to hang against her hip. The talk she had with Levy was eventful. Like any other girl-chat they would have, it ended with embarrassment hanging right over her shoulders. And it doesn't help that Mirajane has been giving her sharp glances every time she would walk passed the floor desk. That was never a good sign, she knows. Lucy has a slight feeling she'll be in for it with the silver-haired woman when she returns. But thankfully, she's now headed off to see Natsu.

It's weird how that made her feel better. Mirajane's wrath? Or going to see the man you nearly had a love affair with?

She continued walking.

To distract herself as she walked, as any other woman would do when she was walking alone, Lucy started looking through her bag to seem as if she were looking for something, but it wasn't long before she felt her shoulder being nudged back roughly. Snapping her attention back up, she whirled around to face the man she bumped into and opened her mouth to apologize, but felt her blood run cold at his towering figure. Her breath hitched and she felt her limbs stiffen painfully as the man turned to face her.

"Ah—sorr' about that, miss." The man smirked and patted her shoulder casually as he turned back on his heel towards the entrance, leaving Lucy frozen in her place. Her widen eyes watched his retreating back as he walked upon the outer mat in front of the auto-doors, but he paused and glanced sharply towards her, giving her a shaded look.

Lucy felt her fingers tremble as the images from that night played before her eyes as she stared blankly at his face. Her heart started pounding painfully and she wanted nothing more than to turn around and run, but her legs felt like they were wrapped in chains that were holding her into the concrete. The look in his eyes, the way his posture hung a little to the left . . . that man. . . he's the one that . .

"Everything alright, miss?" He asked, keeping his tone low. He turned slowly towards her with his brows flat and furrowed, and her arms started shaking. His eyes raked up and down her body and the familiar feeling of fear filled her veins, leaving an uncomfortable, heavy feeling against her skin. Dark hair fell over his eyes and he stepped towards her, and before she knew it, her legs had turned and she was running.

Lucy ran through the parking lot and between cars until she made it to the gate that lead to the main street. She was panicking. How was this possible? She thought he was dead! He was supposed to be dead! That's what everyone thinks! But she paused for a moment to catch her breath and slowed her quick pace to a slow walk, thinking that she had ran far enough. She hesitated as she turned her head over her shoulder to catch a look of her surroundings that were caging her. Lucy saw no sight of the man she had just fled from and felt she had imagined it. But knowing he wasn't following her calmed her a great deal to where she was able to straighten her back and sigh.

Her throat and lungs were burning from inhaling the cool air rapidly from running. The sudden tension she felt just before was leaving her body in sheets of sweat that was coating her skin, making her hug her cardigan tighter into herself. And despite all that, her heart rate had yet to calm down.

She sighed again and gave one last glance behind her before she moved forward and lined herself on the sidewalk that outlined the streets. There wasn't much people out since rush hour had ended hours prior, but there was enough for her to have to walk around. Looking up, Lucy saw the Fire Department on the other end of the street, but it was small. She still had a good distance to walk before hand, which gives her enough time collect herself.

She looked over her shoulder again. There was a feeling on her back that wasn't very settling. The feeling rolled in her stomach, making her feel sick. Lucy chewed on her lip and bowed her head, picking up her pace. The sooner she gets there, the better. It was probably nothing to worry about, she thought. Honestly, did she hit her head? How can a dead man still be here?

"Maybe it was my imagination . ." Lucy murmured then sighed. She has no _actual_ proof of it, so she can't tell anyone without seeming crazy and out of her mind. They'd just tell her she's seeing things—which, actually, is the same thing she would tell anyone else. She thinks that maybe she mistook his appearance since the assault was probably the most terrifying moment she had ever experienced in her life. But . . . how else would she put it? If Natsu hadn't showed up and helped her, she's scared to think of how the moment could of unfolded. And yes, she has thought of that many, _many_ times, but what he did means a lot to her.

Her steps quickened in pace again and she found herself sprinting and jogging towards the Department with the man from the Hospital slipping to the back of her mind as the desire to see Natsu overcame it. She doesn't care anymore! She just wants to see him! To set her feelings straight out in front of him and to know his. They can't be acting like this with the court date just around the corner. What happened last night between them in the valley—

Feeling blood heat up her neck and cheeks, Lucy squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment as she started receiving odd glances from passing eyes. Honestly!

—it means so much to her!

.

.

.

"You finally showed, Lucy." Gray grinned at her as she walked up into garage of the firehouse, studying her surroundings with curious and longing eyes. She was out of breath since she ran here, but she managed a kind smile to the sheriff as she walked up to him. "Natsu went up stairs a while ago and hasn't come down yet." He shrugged.

"O—Oh, okay." Lucy nodded, a little disappointed. Did he know she was coming? Or . . ? "Should I go—" Her sentence was cut short by Gajeel, who had came stomping down the stairs heavily with a deep frown on his features. Lucy stopped briefly to lift an arm to wave to him, but he brushed past her like her very existence wasn't even there. She pressed her lips together and furrowed her brows and turned around, "Gajeel!"

"What?!" The man snapped, startling her.

"Hello?" Lucy pressed.

"What?" Gajeel responded dumbly, raising what she would think to be a skeptical brow.

She sighed, dejected, "Never mind."

"Oye! Gajeel!" Lucy felt her heart jump at the sound of Natsu's voice coming from upstairs. Her cheeks reddened as she looked up from where he was coming from. His form came swinging down from on of the fire poles, but his eyes came in contact with hers and stopped midway, then proceeded to _climb back up_ the pole. Her heart sank a little.

"Oh man. Lucy, don't mind him right now," Gray sighed, a little irritated, "He feels horrible for what happened last night. Honest." But before he could say anymore, Lucy was already running her way up the stairs and to the second floor where the salmon-haired male most definitely is.

"Natsu!" She called as she nearly tripped up on the last step. Lucy ran into the kitchen and frantically looked for him before moving on to his bedroom, which also came up false. She checked the bathroom and everything else she knew of before it really dawned on her that he was really hiding and avoiding her. That thought stung her greatly, bringing a deep frown to her face, "Natsu?" She called again and leaned her back against the wall closest to her. "I don't care about what happened last night . . please come here!"

Silence.

"Do you hate it?" Lucy said, dropping down to a sitting position on the ground. She came here wanting to see him, not to get the cold shoulder. Now she feels foolish for coming all the way here hoping to clear things up between them, because honestly, the tension she felt late last night and this morning was unbearable thinking that he'd hate her and distance himself. She wants to see him! She really, _really_ wants—

"Lucy,"

At her name, Lucy gasped and snapped her head up. Natsu came stepped out in front of her with his palms covering his face. He kneeled down in front of her and slowly lowered his arms and looked her in the eye for a moment before he diverted his sight else where. His cheeks were flushed and seemed to irritating him to levels she doesn't even care about. Natsu was actually here.

"About last night, I am so sorry." He began rambling, still avoiding eye contact, "I was drunk and couldn't think straight, and you were there and—"

"Idiot!" Lucy cut him off and leapt forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders as tightly as she could. She felt him stiffen and fall back, but that only made her grip tighter. "I don't care about what happened, okay?" She mumbled, snuggling into the crease of his neck and shoulder.

Natsu's arms twitched beside him, but he resisted the want to move them. He swallowed at the feel of her shifting and what she told him, and felt, irritably, his face heat up. Even though Gray had told him early about her coming, he was least expecting her to show. Seeing her in garage startled him, and without thought, he ran away. Childish, really, but what's he supposed to do? After what he did to her last night, she doesn't care?

"What do you mean . . . you don't care?" He questioned, feeling the tension in his muscles relax as he adjusted to their current position.

Lucy whispered, embarrassed, he could tell, "I don't hate you, if that's what is wrong," She smiled slightly, "I . . liked it."

Natsu furrowed his brows and pulled away from her, but still kept the close distance between them. Her face was flushed and the look she was giving him was yearning, "You liked it?" He asked slowly. Lucy nodded numbly, eyes flickering between his and his lips before they flashed back up. Her hands came up and brushed over his jawline to gently cup his cheeks, showing him that he had permission to move forward. But Natsu remained still for a moment and uncertain, but soon got the message and leaned forward, bringing his hand up to the side of her neck to pull her closer. He watched her eyes flutter closed as their faces got closer and closer until it was to where he felt her soft breathing brushing over his skin. Their lips were mere centimeters away from colliding, lightly feathering the others skin when—

They jumped away from each other as a piercing bell started ringing throughout the building. Natsu was first to recover and react to the sound and jumped to his feet, but Lucy took a few moments to register. In alarm the both ran down to the garage where the other firemen were currently dressing and preparing for work. Natsu took the fire pole while Lucy took the stairs. Lucy, panicked a little, watched in awe as Natsu ran over to the rack and started slipping on his firesuit.

"'Bout time we get some work to do!" Natsu grinned, in a much better mood.

"You seem better," Gray commented, nearly shouting for his voice to be heard over the fire alarm that was still ringing, "You're the only idiot I know that gets excited when someone's house is on fire!"

"What'd you say?!" Natsu shouted at him, cupping his hand over his ear.

"What?!" Gray yelled back in question.

Lucy couldn't help the small feeling of disappointment bubbling up in the pit of her stomach at the interruption, but was happy to see that things will be better between the two of them. But seeing that now he has a job to do, she turned to make her leave, but Natsu caught her.

"You wanna come?" Natsu asked, gesturing her to get in the truck that the other men were loading on to. Lucy smiled wide and nodded, allowing him to hoist her up into the air and into the front seat.

* * *

a/n: dun dun _dun_. the man at the hospital that lucy ran from, remember him. _remember._

until next time, guys!


	9. Chapter 9

a/n: there was supposed to be something _special_ for chapter 10, but looks like it's being pushed back from the way this is progressing. but here's chapter nine! thank you! :) and i'm _really_ sorry for the wait, school took over most of my time, but now i have two weeks and a day off. also, i decided i may complete this at 13 chapters, more or less, depending.

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Touch

Chapter Nine

"So uncool! You have motion sickness?" Lucy shrieked, rather more confused than anything. Natsu was leaned over in the driver's seat with the side of his face squished up against the steering wheel, face pale and pained. The moment he started the truck, he lurked forward looking as if he was about to hurl all over the dash. Though Lucy was questioning this, she was confused, because hasn't he driven before?

"Idiot! Move back." Gajeel growled as he crawled over Lucy and pushed Natsu out of the seat and into the back. "Get yer sick ass in the back seat, I'm drivin'!"

Lucy, a little shaken from the larger man's sudden foul mood, grabbed Natsu by the shoulders and pulled him with her into the back seat. Natsu groaned at every movement as Gajeel slammed on the gas and sped out the garage, turning on the sirens and horn as they swerved into the highway. They were late for the job thanks to him, but right now Lucy was conflicted as to what to do to help him, because otherwise he was going to puke all over her, and no one wants that. The first thing she did was look around for any medical kit which should definitely be in some place here and and frowned when she didn't see one.

Gajeel eyed her through the rear-view mirror and snorted, "Top left, by the door in the compartment. There's a clear bag of patches underneath the spray. Juss slap one of them on and he'll be fine." Lucy nodded and mumbled her thanks before leaning over in the seat, which lead to Natsu clinging on to her waist and whimpering at her movement, and feeling around for the compartment. Lucy bit her lip and felt her face heat at the hold, but she kept her composer. This was no time to be embarrassed! Finding the slot, she unclipped the box and shuffled around the container until she found the clear, zippered bag containing the patches that Gajeel had told her about.

"L—Luce . . stop . . moving," Natsu wheezed, clinging onto her tighter. Lucy, not hearing him, shifted both their positions to where he was laid across the seat so she kneeled on the floor. Natsu grumbled and clasped a hand over his mouth and scrunched his face up, "Uuhg—Luc . . oh god,"

"Oi! Don'tcha dare puke inside here! I'll pull this truck over and kick both ya love birds into a street pole!" Gajeel yelled, "And you! Bunny Girl!"

"W—What?" Lucy flinched as she was unwrapping the patch and preparing to put it on Natsu. Her attention snapped over to the man driving for a moment before they hit a bump, causing Natsu to jump up and grab her shoulders and pull the top half of her body into his chest and torso, wanting something to grip as he tries not to hurl. Lucy, on reaction, grabbed him back and wrapped one of her arms around his upper leg to get him to stop thrashing and complaining, "Natsu! Stop moving!" Though the position was rather embarrassing seeing as she was now practically sitting upon him, she was trying to act like the professional caregiver she is, but he is making it hard. Any other person would be upright disgusted by the fact that he is seconds away from throwing up, and honestly, she is, but it's Natsu, you know? It would take a lot for her to be outright disgusted with him. But she's used to these things, seeing how she has to deal and work with things much worse than this. But this environment, meaning the backseat of a fire truck, isn't really an ideal place to care for a sick person.

"This is your fault, ya know!" Gajeel yelled, "It's thanks to you that the bastards been moppin' around this mornin', and forgot to put a patch on when he got to work! You shoulda just slept with him instead of goin' halfway in the valley last—"

"Shut up, Gajeel!" Natsu shouted, shooting upright from his laying position, and then his stomach gave a violent lurk and caused him to plop back down. Thankfully, the truck finally came to a stop as they pulled up to the curb of a line of apartments, giving Lucy the open opportunity to place the patch on his neck below his ear. Gajeel grumbled out a few curse words and rolled his eyes at the two of them as he kicked the driver's door open and jumped out the seat, adjusted his helmet, and slammed the door shut. A silence followed, nothing but the muffled noises coming from the outside for them to hear. Lucy sighed heavily and leaned back against the seat, allowing her body and limbs to relax. She felt like she just fought a war trying to get one single patch on one man. And for a moment the blonde forgot about the man she was still straddling until she felt the movement squirm beneath her legs, but had no time to really react before she was being pushed off into the seat. Lucy landed on her bottom in a soft 'thumb' as Natsu stood and crawled into the front seat.

Well, he was certainly feeling better already, Lucy thought bitterly, but felt relieved as well.

"Stupid bastard, I'll run him over with the truck," Natsu hissed under his breath as he changed gears and started backing the truck up. Lucy panicked when they started jerking and forced herself up and into the front seat beside him and grabbed his hand to stop him, looking at him with worry.

"I just put the patch on! You need to keep still and let it sink in, Natsu," She said.

Natsu shook his head, ignored her hand, and continued to back them up despite the slight quivering feeling that was bumbling up in his nerves, "It's fine! Gajeel pulled up too far, I need to back it up!"

Lucy watched him bite his lip and lean over across her to look in the rear-view mirrors as he slowly inched the truck back and slowly dropped her hand from his. She felt the entire vehicle shift and move as it was moved off the curb and into the street, but she kept her eyes on Natsu.

He switched gears again and placed them in park, "Gajeel needs to learn how to park, damnit,"

"But if there's a fire, wouldn't parking be the least of your worries?" Lucy pointed out, but pressed her lips together tightly at the stern look she received.

"I was in the backseat! This is why he is not allowed to drive!" Natsu puffed.

"But, Natsu, you were unable to drive earlier. Gajeel had to drive," Lucy raised a brow.

Natsu scowled at her, obviously hating the fact that she was defending Gajeel—which, oddly, she was. Lucy was going to say more until the scowl on his face suddenly dropped and he was left staring at her. Her breath hitched for short moment. It felt weird having his eyes solely on her, it left a chill on the lower part of the spine that doesn't settle. Natsu struck her as the type who would never focus all of his attention on one thing for long, but here he sat, eyes locked on her, brows furrowed, bottom lip puckered out a bit. His hand slowly raised from his side and brushed over the side of his neck where the patch stuck to his skin. Natsu narrowed at her for a moment before softening, leaving him to sigh and lean back against the door.

"Thanks, Luce," He muttered lowly, but clearly for her to catch, "You really saved my ass today."

Lucy puffed her cheeks and felt herself blush a tinge, "A—All I did was what an normal person would do, okay?"

"Pfft, _like_ Gajeel would have helped!" Natsu snorted, rolling his eyes. He turned back around in his seat and glanced out the window where a small amount of smoke can be seen escaping an apartment window 2 stories off the ground, "Kitchen fire, huh?" He mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Are you going out?" Lucy questioned.

Natsu shook his head and shrugged, "Nothin' they can't handle right now. If it was any worse, I would definitely go."

Lucy nodded in understanding and silently thanked that the fire was as small as it was, and that it wasn't any worse. She, personally, has never been involved in a fire and nor has she even _seen_ one. On rare occasions she would see smoke rising in the air from across the city, but that's it. She actually hasn't been living in Magnolia for long—she moved her only a few years back when she was still in school to be in the medical field she's in now. And she remembers the few times patients would come in with blistering burn scars on their bodies from house fires. The memories made her cringe, especially merely thinking of the pain that those people were in.

"Lucy?" She snapped out of her trance and shook her head a little out of her thoughts, and looked to Natsu, who had his brow raised in question towards her, "You okay? You zoned out there for a moment."

Lucy nodded assuring, "I'm fine! I was just . ." The corner of her eye caught the sight of a few firemen walking out of the building strapped safely in uniform, helmets and mask on with a few people trailing behind them. The sudden thought of Natsu's position on the job surfaced her mind, and she realized the dangerous cons his job has. One day there could be a large fire and he could charge right into it, and not come back out. For all she knew she could lose him on day on the job. For all she knew he could end up severely injured. For all she knew—

"Lucy," In an instant, Natsu's face was barely within centimeters of her own and his hand was clamped down on the seat directly between them. Lucy froze as and heated up as she realized she had voiced her concerned thoughts and avoided his stern stare as his forehead pressed against hers. Any other time she would have pulled away to increase the distance between them—or he would have ( like his touching issue ) by now, but after the moment they shared earlier in the firehouse upstairs . . well, she doesn't want to pull away. "You don't have anything to worry about me, okay?" He mumbled, trying hard to meet her moving gaze. Lucy was still avoiding it.

"I know . . I think too much, that's it," She said sheepishly. It's a habit that she can't seem to tame—thinking too hard or long into pointless things. He was getting closer and it was causing Lucy to find it more difficult to keep her eyes away. Her face and ears were heating up, she can feel it!

"You can hurt yourself doing that, ya know." Natsu grinned. Lucy cracked a smile and playfully nudged his shoulder back, but stopped when he reached up and gripped her hands. "Sorry about earlier, by the way,"

"What do you mean?"

He started to lean forward again, she noted, but compared to before he was hesitant, "We were interrupted . ."

Her chest gave a light jump as she caught on and slowly leaned forward herself. Her fingers gripped inside his hands as she tilted her head up and slightly over to angle her lips towards his. Their eyes locked, they watched each other as the distance decreased by the second, feeling their lips brush against the other before their eyes slipped closed and—

"The fuck you guys doin' in my seat?!" Gajeel threw open the driver's door and scowled, causing the two of them to jump apart in surprise. Natsu growled and snapped his attention to other male and started yelling, until, that is, he took notice of what the larger man was holding in his arm. "Oh yeah, hold him," Gajeel lifted the animal up and dropped it in Natsu's arms before slamming the door shut and leaving, forgetting the short argument they had.

Lucy peered curiously at the cat Natsu immediately started cuddling into his chest, raising a brow a brow at the odd color of its fur. Blue—though the poor thing had patches of dirt and ash covering its body, obviously showing it had something to do with the fire they were handling. She then looked back to Natsu and couldn't help the smile that fell on her lips, watching the excitement he showed while holding the small animal up to his face.

"I'm gonna keep him!" He declared, grinning widely at her.

Lucy sputtered, "That's someone else's cat, Natsu! And he was in the fire." Though, she had to admit—the two of them already seem to be pretty fond of the other.

"So what?"

"Uhhg," Her hand ran down her face and she gave up, can't stop him. For the next for what seemed like hours before they finally headed back to the fire house, Natsu was babying the animal and ignored everything else. The moment they returned he ran upstairs to bathe the feline and she trailed slowly behind him, laughing at his childish mood. It wasn't long before she decided it was time for her to head back to work, knowing her break was well passed due and that Mirajane might kill her. Lucy walked up to Natsu and placed her hand on his shoulder and pushed herself up on her toes, and pressed her lips to side of his cheek next to his ear before turning her heel and walking out, leaving him dumbfounded.

She walked off the property with a smile on her face, and there was a little bounce in her step as she walked. Lucy was glad things worked out, not exactly how she planned, but well. So she made her way back to work, unknowing on the eyes that were following her back from the dark depths of the valleys.

* * *

a/n: i wanted this to be longer, i really did. i've had no motivation to write, but i wanted to give an update cause it's been a while. next chapter will be another time jump, but i will try to explain it thoroughly the best i can because i want to complete this soon. i'm sorry for any mistakes or if anything doesn't make sense because i have no mood to proof edit this right now—maybe later.

thank you guys! and happy new year!


	10. Chapter 10

a/n: drum roll, pleeeaassee  
i'm joking there might not be much of anything exciting for this chapter, except for maybe the ending _butwhoamitosayanything. _i have not written anything remotely decent since exams started a _many moths ago_, and i've started my 16 hour school days with saturday as my only day off, so i am very rusty.

i am very sorry for taking so long to update. i have not given up, though. chapter 10! ( it's a filler chapter hhhh )

* * *

Touch

Chapter Ten

The irritated sheriff exhaled through his nostrils before a sharp curse slipped through his gritted teeth, his eyes narrowed down to his cellular device in his palm that was currently sounding a voicemail.

"What is that moron doing that he can't pick up his damned phone?" He practically growled, tapping his screen to end the call before he tossed his phone into the driver's seat of his car. There were a few moments of pause as he watched the rushing streets of people and traffic as they made their ways left and right before he twisted around and grabbed the device again.

The call ringed about three times before it was forwarded to voicemail, and the man almost tossed the phone across the street into the coffee building that was directly across from his standing point. But instead, taking a slow, deep breath, he hung up the call and dropped it back into the seat.

"And to think I was going to be _considerate_." Gray muttered and crossed his arms, resuming his job position and monitoring the street. He had some updated information on Natsu's seating and court date with the judge, but since Natsu has ignored his calls, the info will have to wait another day.

Gray sighed and looked up to the dark sky, squinting his eyes just a tad to make out the little specks of white dotting around in the dark blue haze. It was a rather cloudy night, he thought, but it was hard to make out the white and grey puffs of air and water with the city lights blaring all around him. It had to of been going on around midnight by now, he concluded, looking back down to level and eyeing the amount of people and cars still cluttering the area. He was tired, but he didn't get to go home for another few hours.

Looking at his watch has become a habit of boredom he does to get a few seconds of distraction, but this had to of been the seventh time in last five minutes he has looked at it. The hour stayed the same, and he feels that if he kept taking glances, the seconds would become drastically slower just to torment him.

But just before he lowered his wrist back down to his waste, he noticed a drop of water tap against the top of his hand, right by his knuckle. His eyes squinted back up towards the sky again just as a coat of rain started pouring down on the city. The sound of the already rushing crows rushing faster erupted and mixed in with the sound of the down pour just as many people barely managed to get their umbrellas out.

Grey dropped his head to the ground in front of him, bit the inside of his lip, and sighed. His hair and uniform were quickly starting to stick to his skin, but he was a little grateful to the coat he was wearing. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing at all. He was one of the unfortunate people in the rain without an umbrella, and due to his job right now, he has no choice but to stand in it. He supposed he could patrol from the inside of his car, but he figured since he was already out here and wet, for the time being, he'll wait.

He turned, wiping some water from his face, and opened his car door just slightly, just enough to roll his window up to keep the water from going onto his seat and grabbed his water bottle before slamming the door shut. He took a few gulps before shoving the container in his right coat pocket and leaned back against his curser, absently spitting water from his lips.

"Oi! Get outta the street! What are you, _crazy?!_" The sound of a hollering cab driver and a car horn made the police man snap his head up to the street where a woman can be seen slowly walking into traffic, holding a bright purple umbrella in her hands. Gray gasped and quickly pushed himself off his car and sprinted towards the street, carefully navigating himself through the large groups of people. He stopped at the end of the sidewalk where it cuts off into street as a few cars sped passed and around the woman currently standing in the middle.

The purple shade was slowly lifted to reveal the light blue scrubs the woman was wearing. Gray locked his eyes on her face as the umbrella was moved up from shielding it, watching her wavy aquamarine hair that went medium length came into his view. Her eyes fluttered closed and lips parted as drops of rain started hitting her face, only to gently roll off.

He caught himself staring and was brought back by yet another car horn coming from an irritated driver, and quickly made his way into the street. He held his hands up to stop the cars and allow them to drive around the two of them as he now stood in front of the woman.

The sheriff put a gentle, but stern hand on the woman's arm, "Ma'am—ah, uh—_Juvia_, I'm going to have to ask you to get back on the sidewalk." He said, pitifully and awkwardly.

Juvia's eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice, and a "Sheriff Gray!" squeaked out from her throat. Her hands went her lips to silence herself for a moment before she squeaked again, and fumbled to get her umbrella over his head, "Sherriff Gray is all wet! D—Does he not—?"

"Don't worry about me, let's just get you out of the street," Gray moved his hand to her upper back and started guiding her back the sidewalk, holding his hand up to stop the cars and let them pass. From the corner of his eye, he can see the flushed expression she was making, pressing her palm to her cheek and keeping her eyes on their feet. Once they made out of the street and by his car, Gray leaned down to level their height and narrowed his eyes at her face, noting how she was now avoiding eye contact with him, "What were doing walking into the middle of a busy street?"

"J—Juvia didn't—"

"Yes you did."

"No! Juvia did no—"

"I watched you."

Gray clicked his tongue and moved her umbrella back up to uncover her face as she unconsciously lowered it. He moved so he could meet her straying gaze.

"Sheriff Gray is soaked," Juvia mumbled, moving her umbrella back over his head.

Gray nodded, "I'm aware," He snickered and ducked out from under the covering and shook his hair out, "That is why you should not worry about putting an umbrella over me—it's kind of too late."

"Sheriff Gray will get sick if he stays like that." He could practically _feel_ the worry in her voice.

Gray smiled and shook his head, turning to the side, missing the sound of her umbrella being closed and clasped shut, "You still haven't answered my question as to why—"

"Juvia loves the rain." Gray turned back with a brow raised and nearly sputtered when he noticed she had closed her umbrella was and currently now nearly as soaked as he was.

"Hey! Hey! You're getting wet! What are you doing?" Gray asked, reaching for her umbrella to open it. Was this woman really crazy? She'll get sick!

It was once he finally managed to get a hold of her umbrella and open it over her head, did he finally lay eyes on the warming smile that was stretched on her lips. He became still and allowed her to reach up and adjust the umbrella over his head. Juvia's cheeks were still flushed a healthy red and there was a gleeful gleam in her eyes when she looked up to him.

"Now Sheriff Gray won't get wet anymore," Juvia smiled a little wider.

He had never seen her smile before. Every time he was at the hospital with Lucy, she was always hiding behind something or watching from afar, and would jump and back away if he so much as looked at her.

"Heh," Gray grinned and straightened his back, taking the umbrella in his hands and held it above the both of them, "let's go get you dried off, _Nurse Juvia_." His hand found its way back to her upper back and he guided her to the cross walk, with Juvia sputtering a 'a—a—a date with Sheriff Gray?'.

So even upon the gloomy and irritated faces in the crowd, there was such a smile in the rain?

* * *

"GRAY!" Erza came busting through the office doors and immediately started looking around for the raven-haired male. She had already checked half the office doors before seeing a frightened stiff blue-haired sheriff standing in the doorway, coffee mug held half-way to his mouth, eyes wide.

A hot blush surfaced on her cheeks at the man's previous words 'you're the devil' came back to her the last time she acted a ruckus in front of him. She relaxed herself and took a deep breath, then turned on her heel to point her back towards the man.

"Gray?" She questioned, feeling her voice go uneven at the end.

She heard the man step farther into the room and set his mug down on one of the desks.

"Gray is on patrol up the road. He won't be back for another few hours," Jellal explained, clearing his throat a moment later, "Can I, uh, help you with anything? Like, um, give him a message when he comes back?"

Erza smiled a little at his shy tone and turned her head over her shoulder to face him, "Just tell him to contact me as soon as possible." The man nodded and step forward just as she took a step towards the door, motioning that he will escort her out, but they both stopped at the door as she opened it.

"How long have you been on the force, Jellal?" Erza asked stepping outside and opening her umbrella. Jellal followed her out and pulled the office door shut behind him, and walked up beside her.

"A few years, but I'm still rather new to this city," He chuckled, "How long have you been a lawyer, ma'am?"

"A few years, as well," She smiled. She enjoyed small talk.

Erza turned to the sidewalk, but did not move. Jellal could see her hesitation and leaned towards her in worry, and she felt his curious eyes on the side of her head. In truth, she had a feeling of not wanting to leave just yet. She wanted to talk more to him and, just perhaps, lift the 'devil' nickname that he set upon her just a few months back.

Her teeth scrapped against the skin of her lip nervously as the seconds passed before she saw him move closer to her from the corner of her eye. Before he could open his mouth and voice his question, Erza spun back around, surprising him.

When no words came out of her gapping mouth, Jellal let out another warm chuckle before he asked, "Would you like to come back inside, Ms. Scarlet?"

Erza, relieved, nodded and folded her umbrella, and smiled as she followed him back inside. With full cups of coffee in both their hands, a loving and shy laughter, the rain became a soothing background noise for the red-haired lawyer and the police man.

* * *

"Fuckin' Natsu and his _fuckin' cat_," Gajeel stomped out the doors of the supermarket with a scowl on his face, two bags of cat liter and food under both his arms, "Why can't he go shoppin' for that piss bag himself?!" He grumbled louder, recalling the memory at finding the said man's cat squatting on _his_ tool case. "That's gonna take _days_ to clean!" The man yelled his feet.

"Um—!" A small voice along with soft, quick footsteps behind him sounded, but he was too caught up in his angry rambling to notice.

"I'm gonna kick that bastard tomorrow morning when I see him! He better of taken that damned blue cat home!" Gajeel yelled, tossing both the bags in the backseat of his truck, "So sick of cleaning up cat shit!

"Hey! Gajee—"

"Gonna kill them both if I see one more pile of crap on my stuff—Ooph!?" Gajeel' face squished up against his truck winder as a small figure collided and grabbed onto the back of him.

"Ga—Gajeel!" A woman's voice entered his ears before he could spin around and sack who or whatever pushed him. The long-haired male turned and lifted a studded brow and looked down to the to find a rather wet, short blue blob holding on to the back of his shirt.

He puckered his bottom lip out, knowing this could only be one person.

"Shorty?" He questioned, feeling the woman stiffen.

"Keys . . ." Levy mumbled, holding up a clutter of keys in her left hand a moment later, "You dropped your keys at the checkout counter," She looked up from her postion against his back and let out a puff of air, still trying to catch her breath. At this point, the both of them had a fair amount of water dripping down their faces and damping their clothing.

Gajeel furrowed his brows and slapped both his hands against his pockets and belt, now confirming that he did indeed drop his keys without realizing.

"Thanks, shrimp," Gajeel plucked the set of keys from her small fingers and twirled them around his finger, then proceeding to walk around his vehicle to the drivers side, "Oi!" He called to her just as she turned to walk away.

"H—Huh?" Levy jumped, nearly falling over as her bag of store-bought items fell to the fold of her arm.

"Did ya walk here?" Gajeel asked, unlocking and opening his car door.

"Yes. I got off my shift a half hour ago . . " Levy replied quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.

Gajeel nodded and nudged his head towards the car and muttered a 'it's unlocked' before he ducked down into his seat. Levy brightened up and practically hopped towards the passenger side and climbed in, setting her things in her lap and wrapping the seat belt around her tiny frame.

"We're both rather wet!" Levy laughed, running a hand through her wet locks as Gajeel shook his head like a dog.

"We'll find somethin' dry for ya to wear at the fire house." Gajeel grinned as he pulled out from the parking space.

"T—The fire house?" Levy stammered, "Why are we going there?"

"_Gihihi._"

* * *

Natsu sighed tiredly as he forwarded another call from Gray on his phone and set it back on his bedside table. The room fell dark again with only the faint light coming in from his window to illuminate the dresser and bed in the room. He grumbled and dropped his arms over the side of his bed and looked up to the calendar he had marked up pinned to his wall above his desk.

Two more weeks.

Just two more weeks until he was back in the court room.

Two more weeks until this was all over.

He closed his eyes and sighed, still feeling a lack of energy from some previous events earlier in the night. It had started out normal when he came home from work. He stripped himself of his work clothes, showered, fed and took care of Happy, and found his place in the middle of his sofa with the television on.

That was until Lucy came knocking on his door with three bags of food handing off her arms. They talked, cooked, watched part of a movie, played with Happy, and then _this_ and _that_ happened.

Next thing they both knew, he was caring her into his bedroom by her waste and was kicking the door shut behind him. It became a passionate rest of the night, full of gasps and clumsy and loving laughter.

She had whispered something in ear at some point during it, but the strain in her voice that was mixed with soft moaning caused him to miss it. Natsu made a mental note to ask her about it tomorrow when he next saw her, and rolled over to his opposite side, shifting the blanket that covered the bare bottom half of his body, keeping the upper half uncovered.

He eyed the soft bums in the bed that clearly showed where her shoulders and waist laid. Lucy had the blanket curled up with her fingers to hide her chest, but one her legs laid out on top the blanket. Natsu reached his hand out and gently placed his fingers in her stray hair, softly tweezing and curling it.

Her face and breathing was soft in slumber, so he was careful not to wake her.

This feeling he felt right now, he couldn't really voice it well. It was a first, but he knows of it.

Natsu felt himself being lured into sleep by the sound of rain fall coming from the outside of his apartment, and allowed his eyes to fall shut.

It was a couple hours later he woke up to the beeping of his alarm clock. There was no one besides himself in his bed and a layer of dry smudged lip gloss on the corner of his mouth.

Natsu snorted and rubbed it off, and then scowled at the glitter on the palm of his hand. He shifted himself to the side of his bed in seated position, not paying much attention to the lack of clothing in his state. With a push, he stood up and stretched his limbs to the ceiling and made his way into his bathroom to shower to head to work.

He was out the door in less than 15 minutes, nearly slipping on his ass as he ran down the metal stairs to the sidewalk. He cursed at the puddles from last nights rain as he jogged himself to the fire house a few streets up, and barely dodged a punch from a rather angry Gajeel as he ducked into the garage.

"OI! I FOUND ANOTHER PILE OF YOUR CATS SHIT!" Gajeel yelled at his back as he ran up the stairs.

"It means he likes you!" Natsu laughed.

"I don't want his shit!" Gajeels voice became distant as Natsu rummaged through the kitchen and fridge for food. A few cold pizzas later, the fridge was closed and he found two figures standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Whaddya want?" Natsu said with a mouthful.

"I tried to contact you last night, so why didn't you pick up?" Gray asked, finding a seat at the table with Erza following suit.

"There was an update on your court date, Natsu," Erza said as she crossed her legs in a professional matter, "The date has been moved up."

"Why?" Natsu asked, sitting down between the two, "Why are they making it sooner?"

"There were some issues revolving around the date before yours, whose seating has been moved back, so the dates were switched," Erza explained, "Also, your probation officer will be assisting you and Lucy there as well."

Natsu groaned, but kept quiet.

"It smells like animal crap in here," Gray scrunched up his nose and looked around and under his shoes, making sure he didn't step in anything funky.

"I got a cat," Natsu said, laughing at the faint sounds of Gajeel yelling down in the garage, "He liked Gajeel."

The three of them jumped at the sudden sound of the fire alarm going off through out the building, and Natsu was the first to react on instinct and run towards the fire poles. He landed in a heap in the garage and sprinted to the wall to quickly slip on his gear and climb into the passenger side of the truck as the men started piling on.

Gajeel swung into the front seat in full uniform, and turned on his walky, but not forgetting to send a sharp punch into the salmon-haired man's arm. Natsu rolled his eyes and listened to the report and waited for the location to be given

"—a few miles up the highway, black smoke can be seen coming from the third floor—" Both men listened carefully, trying to make out the words through the static line.

"Magnolia Hospital is on fire, we're going to need backup up here right away."


End file.
